Down the Rabbit Hole
by lizzpercush
Summary: In which a twist in time reverses the familiar roles. Now Jinx is the hero and Kid Flash the villain. Leave behind reality and all preconceived notions and journey...
1. Found

**A/N 10-21-10:** I am officially insane. I have two stories I am already working on at a painfully slow rate, in college, and yet I think it is the perfect time to premiere the beginning of my newest fictional whim. _Down the Rabbit Hole_ is an exploration of the possibilities presented with _alibi2014_'s chapter 27 of _There's Something About You That's Different_. I read the chapter in which she pioneered the idea of Jinx being a hero and Kid Flash a villain, and with her permission and from her inspiration came _Down the Rabbit Hole,_ a story that explores why Jinx is a hero, Kid Flash a villain, and how such a reversal in roles came to be, how it changes things, what it means for the future, and what remains the same.

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Chapter 1: Found

_Rain in the middle of the Mojave Desert, how novel, _Zatanna groused. Soft splashes from little feet echoed after her own awkward tempo. Puddles reflecting Vegas' glow broke and rippled as first Zatanna's newly heel-less stilettos tromped through followed by her motley troop.

Thinking back to her finale Zatanna sighed._ That could have gone differently_. Wearily, the Mistress of Magic pushed a sodden lock of black hair from the arch of her nose to behind her ear and glared at the thunderclouds overhead as if they were personally responsible for her show's epic failure. Well, she mused, maybe Epic Fail was a too heavy and cliché adjective for her show that evening. Other delicate ways to phrase the evening's events would be fiasco, travesty or even… epic failure.

The harsh neon light of Vegas filtering onto the side-street illuminated the source of Zatanna's misfortune and frustrations, a trailing crew of ducklings. Four were of the feathered variety, one of the canine genuses, and the sixth was a girl, who couldn't be any older than the age of ten, with cat eyes the same pink that graced the desert sunrise.

Kicking off her heels Zatanna turned to face the bedraggled crew tromping along behind her. The cat-eyed girl halted mid-stride and peered back at Zatanna with eager fixation. The puppy, all paws, stumbled to a halt at the girl's heels, but the four ducklings marched right on circling around Zatanna's ankles stopping only to preen.

A giggled wafted up into the night air. Zatanna's accusing glare shifted from the fowl to the girl. Although Zatanna's glare caused the giggles to cease it couldn't quite stifle the mischief gleaming in the girl's eyes.

Indeed, Zatanna's final performance of the night in Caesars Palace had been quite spectacular, with the illusions and magic and suspense increasing exponentially throughout her act until the finale brought down the house. And the chandelier. And all centered on the girl before her.

What a fine pair they made two sodden females, one a girl with a bizarre color scheme and an affinity for animals, and the other an adult, an entertainer soaked to the skin, hair frizzing, mascara running, and an altruistic soft spot for down on their luck orphans with a penchant for misfortune.

"Ok, here's how it's going to work," Zatanna said flipping her drenched mane behind her shoulders. "You will stay with me until you can learn to control those magic beams you adore so much. You will reframe from adopting more homeless vermin. You will _not_ brainwash them into thinking that I'm their mother, and you most certainly will not do any of the above to me or anyone else while they're in the middle of a show in Vegas just so you can get your way."

At the laughter dancing in unrepentant pink- eyes, Zatanna knew her responsibility in training the budding sorceress before her was for not only the good of society, but also for the sake of the child herself.

What complete opposites the pair would prove. Master and apprentice. How quite odd and unlikely the odds of fate pushing this pair together, but as Zatanna was quickly learning, the child before her seemed to have a way of defying the odds.

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Prompt: Opposites


	2. Diagnosis

Chapter 2: Diagnosis

"So," drawled Zachary as he looked from his cousin to the latest magical oddity in his life. "Let's go over this again. You ran into this girl during lunch."

"I didn't run into her," Zatanna corrected from her sprawled position on the drawing room's couch. "She found me. She said she'd seen my show and believed in magic, and that she wanted to learn since she had magic also."

Even reclined, body lax, Zatanna radiated tension, blue eyes spearing into the wood paneled ceiling.

"And you didn't think anything of the encounter?"

"No, of course not." Sitting up, the self-proclaimed Mistress of Magic glared at the young man. "I thought she was a fan."

And therefore not serious, Zachary finished in his head. Clearing his throat Zachary instead shifted his gaze to the notepad at his knee in a casual move to avoid his cousin's venomous glare.

"So, you gave her an artifact, a quip, a cliché motivational statement—,"

"Watch it, Zac."

Zachary forged on straight faced, "and disappeared, literally, without thinking anything strange about the encounter." Zatanna nodded. "And then the day passed, and your show began. And you noticed things going wrong when?"

"Before the lights went out, when I started pulling ducklings out of my hat."

Pen stilled midair above paper. "Did you say—?"

"Ducks!" Zatanna exclaimed hands shooting upward in the air and half of the room's loose items obeyed the distracted beckons of her hands rising into the air. Zachary couldn't help staring out the bay window to the point halfway down the hill from Shadowcrest where a puppy, child, and four ducks romped. Zatanna continued her tirade. "Do you have any idea what it's like to reach into your hat expecting a rabbit to instead pull out a baby duck, not once or twice, but three times? Thrice!"

Zachary coughed in what Zatanna suspiciously thought was a laugh before ostentatiously clearing his throat, several times, and inquiring. "I count four…"

"I put my hat on my head only to have the fourth appear on the top of my head."

"Ah." A pause. "But how did you know—?"

Turning so that she was face to face with her cousin, Zatanna plucked a red handkerchief from midair and with a dismissive wave sent all the hovering objects floating back down to earth. "She was standing in the shadows at the end of the main aisle, hands and eyes glowing pink, and smiling smugly."

"And no one noticed the oddities in your performance?"

"Only the crew, and they were having kittens. The audience ate it up," Zatanna demurely replied. "Which was the only reason why the management forgave the chandelier incident without a lawsuit." That and the fact Zatanna had reconstructed the chandelier as the final touch for her disastrous finale.

"Is that all you require, cuz?" Zatanna sighed staring pensively out the bay window. Down below the disenchanted ducklings happily waddled behind the pink-eyed child splashing delightedly among the reeds and cat tails. Noting the gaunt limbs and the loose clothing hanging off the girl's frame, Zatanna resolved to speak with her cook about a change in the menu.

"Just one last question," Zachary prodded. "What do you intend to do with her?"

"After everything she put me through?" Zatanna asked. "I'm considering adoption."

And one look at his cousin's open face staring at the bald orphan, Zachary began to fear the worst.

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Prompt: Red


	3. Name

Chapter 3: Name

Down by the lily pond Zatanna found the strange child. A quick assessing glance left that aside from the accumulation of mud ingrained into the child's rolled up pink overalls and the bare state of her feet not much had changed for the little girl conquering the newly christened Duck Pond.

Her white short-sleeve shirt was still smudged and slightly stained but dry. Her face was caked in an odd war-paint of mud and duck feathers, and the black beanie with a single iris bloom remained centered on her forehead, pulled close to her ears still covering her scalp. Strangely, the girl possessed no hair at all on her head except for fine, blond eyelashes.

"Little One," said the sorceress, and the strange child quickly straightened; wide cat-eyes an odd shade of pink found her addresser. A half smile quirked at the end of Zatanna's lips at the handful of cat tails fisted in the girl's hands. "Come here," she beckoned, and splashing the whole way, the girl clambered out of the pond followed by three ducklings and her puppy.

A quick assessment of the child's posse from the ducks to the german shepherd left Zatanna wanting. "Where's the fourth…oh."

Pink eyes crinkled in delight and a smile shot out as Zatanna plucked the missing duckling from the top of her head, again. Allowing herself only a brief rolling of the eyes, Zatanna quickly switched into what her cousin referred to as business mode.

"If you wish for me to teach then we must get a few formalities out of the way. I'm Zatanna."

The tiny girl nodded. "I know."

"I know you know my name," she responded. "But if you wish to be my student then I must be able to have a name to call you, Little One."

The child nodded. "I don't have a name."

"Everyone has a name Little One," Zatanna chided gently, crouching down in front of the child.

"I lost mine," the girl confided, the light dimming in her eyes. "The old one doesn't fit anymore."

Zatanna nodded. "I see. Nevertheless, you don't have to give me your old name if you don't wish too. In fact that may be a good thing. In magic one of the first things you will learn is that there is a power in a name. Is there a name you'd like to be called by?"

The girl hesitated then nodded. "Jinx."

"Why Jinx?"

"I'm bad luck," came the whisper, and Zatanna felt her heart go out to the precocious child in front of her. "Bad things happen around me. Sometimes things just happen. Sometimes I make it happen."

Zatanna reached out and laid a hand on the girl's shoulder and squeezed hoping to chase away the sadness. "That's not your fault. Your power is a gift, but one you must learn to control. You're still learning. I promise, as your teacher, to help you control your magic."

Earnest pink eyes peered up into Zatanna's blue. "Promise?" she whispered.

"I promise," Zatanna said, and she tweaked the girl's nose. Wrinkling her nose, Jinx leaned away and rubbed her abused nose.

"Now, Jinx," Zatanna said. "I have one more question before we wrap up the formalities and start your lessons."

Black beanie cockeyed and slightly askew, Jinx leaned forward in anticipation.

"Yes?" she asked.

Waving a finger over Jinx's crew of loyal animals, Zatanna slyly smiled. "What are _their_ names?"

A delighted smile broke across Jinx's face. "The duckies are Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and Moe. And this," she concluded picking up her wriggling German Shepherd, "is Lucky."

* * *

Prompt: Iris


	4. Choice

**A/N 10-25-10**: I'm really happy about the reception DTRH has been receiving, and I never knew the KFJ fandom was so small. A disclaimer is needed. At the bottom of every chapter there will be little blurb saying prompt: X. The prompt is the one word I used to spur my writing for the chapter by trying to incorporate that word into the chapter somehow. I found these prompts from the wonderful **Shadowy Flip Flops of DOOM**. The prompts have given me a structure for me to stretch DTRH over, and since there are 100 of them, well, 100 chapters here we come! The only consolation I can offer is that most of the chapters should be short, small clips of an event, with some longer chapters needed for plot purposes.

For for those of you who actually read all if my author's note I will reward you with useful information to salivate over. I intend to update twice a week on Monday and Thursday and will either publish two or three chapters a week allowing for variables to lesson to once a week-which will then fall on Thursday. Still with me? Ok, some will be wondering when will KF be appearing. Chapter twenty-six, that's a promise. When will KF and J meet? twenty-seven and the pair will spend a glorious three chapters together before separation.

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Chapter 4: Choice

When Jinx was 10 she became the legal ward of Zatanna Zatara. Her change in custody presented Jinx with the unique opportunity to change her name.

Naturally, Jinx was biased about names. After having the names witch, bad luck, curse, plague, and jinx oppressing her memories, a new name was a beautiful second chance. To be able to name her self, not to have one given to her or a label slapped on with bitter contempt, that was a power Jinx had never known. She could be whoever she wanted to be.

Magically speaking a name was a powerful thing, or so Zatanna had warned. Jinx then spent hours rifling through the Shadowcrest library before she finally settled on her "official" name and identity. Her new name, Nicole, derived from Nicholas, in French meant victorious people.

But she never, even after the formal changing of her name, dropped Jinx. She was determined to never forget that name; for with it came a reminder of her past and a reminder of what she would work to change. If she was to be a jinx on others, then she would be one only when she wished to be. _She_ would be the cause of misfortune, not the victim of it.

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Prompt: Biased

-Phantom of the Opera rocks-


	5. Premonition

Chapter 5: Premonition

Weeks after Zatanna had tucked her under protective wing when Jinx was newly turned eleven, news came that cut Jinx off from the outside world. The bearer of such sad tidings was a close friend of Zatanna.

A cup slammed down onto the glass tea table.

"I must what?" Zatanna vehemently asked.

Her companion, and fellow sharer of tea, slightly winced at the resulting screech of porcelain against glass. "It's just as I told you. No more, no less."

"I will not lock my student up like some kind of prisoner."

"I have given my warning." Her companion replied and sipped at her steaming cup of Earl Grey. "Her life and future happiness lie in the balance."

Zatanna groaned and slipped her head into her hands soft cradle. "Cassandra, I don't want to hurt her. Don't you think I want her to be happy? She's seen so much sadness, and contrary to her stout belief, none of which was her fault."

The red haired woman smiled a wistful expression in her eyes. "I've seen as much, and kindness is never wasted."

"You would, Seer," Zatanna gently accused. "Look, if I wished to know what future and omens lay in store for Nicole, don't you think I would have checked myself already. I have been known to be pretty accurate with a tarot."

"How many times must I tell you? I'm not a seer or a median." Cassandra replied easily and turned her attention to the door. "And you may stop eavesdropping Little One and come in."

At first no sound carried from beyond the closed parlor door and the hallway, but then the door knob turned tentatively, and an orange beanie clad head with wide, pink eyes slid through the gap.

Zatanna sighed and beckoned to her ward. "Come in, Nicole." Without further invitation the cat-eyed child walked over to the tea table, pulled over the closest available chair, an old rocking chair with many years of use worn into its timbers slid forward at Zatanna's silent magical beckon, and Jinx sat gazing between her Guardian and the stranger with the fiery red hair and gentle brown eyes.

"If you're not a seer," Jinx asked, "then what are you?"

Smiling serenely Cassandra pushed an empty teacup towards the eleven year old. "My family is sensitive to time. We see what has been, what is, what can and what must be."

"Sounds confusing," Jinx replied glibly drawing her teacup closer, idly stirring the tea leaves at the bottom and watching them spin in the whirlpool.

"It is," Cassandra replied. "It has the tendency of short circuiting lesser minds, so between you and me don't mess with time. It'll fry your brains."

For a moment Jinx just stared at Cassandra trying to reason out in her mind whether the face in front of her was indeed serious, or, how did Zachary put it, if Cassandra was pulling her leg. To be on the safe side, Jinx decided to take her at face value and nodded.

"Despite what she says, Nicole," Zatanna cut in, "her predictions are accurate. You can set your watch by them."

"Haven't you done that already?" Cassandra mused between a sip of tea.

"Yes, with that unfortunate affair with the Time Tailors."

"Anyway, Little One," Cassandra said recovering the conversation from its tangent. "I was born with my gift like you were born with your spectacular magic."

Jinx crinkled her nose. "My gift isn't spectacular. It hurts people and destroys things."

Setting down her cup, Cassandra reached across the table and touched Jinx's shoulder and smiled. "Your gift will help and save many people if you so choose."

Zatanna cleared her throat effectively ending the moment between the two. "You were saying," she said gesturing dryly toward Cassandra.

Cassandra nodded and straightened. "In order to ensure this one's safety in the future, she must not go out or be seen by the public or any stranger for the next six years. No one except the most trusted and instrumental few must know that Jinx is alive, being tutored by you, Zee, or her location. It must be as if she just vanished on the streets."

"Why?" Jinx asked, not liking the fact that it sounded like she'd be grounded for the next six years.

"When you found Zatanna and decided to become her student, and when she decided to teach you, Time twisted." Inching forward in her chair Jinx leaned forward enraptured by the golden light that had entered Cassandra's brown eyes. "Now that you've chosen this path, Little One, in order to follow it to its proper end, I'm sad to say these precautions must be met."

"But," Cassandra drawled, and Jinx felt hope stir. Mirroring her charge Zatanna perked up. "There are certain loopholes to this. Zatanna is a strong sorceress. If the grounds are properly warded, then there is no reason why Jinx must abandon them and remain inside the mansion. And there are ways to visit the outside world without being recognized, and allies who can be trusted with her existence."

Brown eyes met Zatanna's, and the lady Zatarra groaned. "He knows?" she asked incredulity staining her voice. Cassandra merely shrugged while smiling, laughter twinkling in her eyes, and she winked at Jinx. "He's known since the beginning."

That elicited another groan and fully captured Jinx's blooming curiosity. "Who?" she asked excitedly.

"An impossible man," Zatanna groaned while Cassandra said, "The mentor of your first friend."

Dancing pink eyes sparked with both delight and practically feline curiosity helping abate the weight on Cassandra's chest which held the knowledge of what was to come, and what Time held for the child in front of her.

* * *

Prompt: Rocking Chair


	6. Scuffle

**A/N 10-28-10**: There's been some confusion about the prompts I use for writing DTRH. They're just...prompts. I don't theme the entire chapter around that prompt. I use the prompt to help jump start the chapter. I make it a game. If the prompt is rocking chair, then I start writing with the goal to having a rocking chair appear, however briefly, into the chapter. I use the prompt as a prop, as part of a sentence while fulfilling the challenge of: how do I get the prompt (boxes) to appear in this chapter when most of the action takes place in the batcave? So if you look carefully you will find the prompt appear in some form in all of my published chapters. Enjoy the dynamic duo.

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Chapter 6: Scuffle

When Jinx first met Robin she took one look at him than laughed. Long, loud, and hard with no regard to propriety, the consternation of her teacher, or the silent glower of the man cloaked in black towering imposingly over her.

Instead she crowed, "It's a speedo!"

The laughter continued, and the delighted guffaws began to set her mortified teacher's face into a smile. One stern look from their host quickly smothered Zatanna's mirth, and she coughed in an effort to restore her composure, but even Zatanna had to admit that Batman's sidekick needed a new look. Sure she could respect odd costumes—she wore one herself—but even if the red tunic and yellow cape were fashionably acceptable that did not make up for the source of her student's delight. Those pants…the poor child needed some sort of leg wear, and those shoes…1940s anyone?

So Jinx laughed oblivious to the narrowing of her age mate's eyes hidden behind his mask, but he remained quiet, a stiff board weathering the gales of ridicule until she mentioned his hair. Momma's boy hair or not as any self-respecting male, child or adult, knew disrespect of any form would not be tolerated, so Robin retaliated.

With of burst of athletic grace Robin leaped behind Jinx and snatched off her white rabbit-eared beanie.

"Baldy," he snidely commented and sniffed at her choice in head wear.

Jinx saw red.

Before the two responsible adults very eyes their two students gave off war cries and began brawling, a rough scuffle of wrestling, punches, kicks, hair pulling, and cheap shots. Zatanna glanced over at her fellow crime fighter.

"Do you think we should intervene?" she asked casually as she mentally noted that she had never noticed how agile Jinx was. At his silence she sighed and winced at a loud crash before calling out, "Jinx, no magic! We don't want to bring the cave down."

A mountain of boxes toppled over as the scuffle evolved into an elaborate game of cat and mouse.

"Why did you bring her here?"

Zatanna smiled at the Batman's gruff question. "Since you were so interested in my student I thought you should meet her for yourself, and I thought that maybe we could foster an alliance between our two charges. They are the same age, and both need relatively normal social contact with others their age. Who knows, they may need each other in the future."

Batman merely narrowed his eyes in response to both Zatanna's reasoning and the sight of his ward caught in a headlock by the cat-eyed girl. His expression failed to waver when Robin countered Jinx's weight and flipped her over his shoulder. In return Jinx shot to her feet and in retaliation drop kicked him.

"If she breaks anything there won't be a next time."

At the indulgent sigh the Batman turned and glared at the instigator of the chaos that had descended on his lair. "What?" came the terse question to the soft light in Zatanna's eyes.

"She's happy."

* * *

Prompt: Boxes


	7. Impression

**A/N 11-01-10**: So I have a finalized updating schedule until 1-3-11, so that's exciting. And a little revision of this chapter was done after one of my thoughtful reviewers gave me a deviantart link that showed Robin in all his speedo costume glory. May the phrase "scaly underoos" perpetuate the Teen Titans fandom from henceforth.

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Chapter 7: Impression

Departure from the Batcave occurred through the same portal which allowed their first entrance, an enchanted floor length mirror fondly named the Looking Glass by a younger Zatanna under. Tucked away in the upper levels of Shadowcrest after many years of disuse and dust collecting, the mirror Zatanna had unearthed was finally utilized for the covert transportation of her student. Now post visit Zatanna and Jinx emerged from the Looking Glass.

"Well?" Zatanna prodded, curious about her student's opinion on her first encounter with the Bat family.

"The cave was cool. Tall, dark, and scary was creepy, and Shortpants needs to ditch the scaly underoos," Jinx opined. A thoughtful expression crossed her face before she submitted her final opinion. "Shortpants has cool moves."

"Yes," Zatanna agreed as an image of Robin performing his famous somersault floated into her memory, "he does."

Jinx paused and sniffed the air, head cocking to the side. "I want to go back sometime."

"Why?"

A devious smile emerged; a smile which warned Zatanna that her student had some scheme cooking behind her feline eyes. "I want to show him that I have cool moves too."

Replaced by a more fitting, childlike look of earnestness Jinx tugged on the tails of Zatanna's jacket to ask, "I smell pancakes. May I go?"

"Yes, Nicole. You may go."

A blur of white and brown darted out of the room, and Zatanna allowed herself a rueful smile. She was confident that Nicole's definition of "cool moves" included her "hexes"—Nicole's name for the pink physical manifestation of her magic—which meant that she needed to set up an appropriate practice room.

But there was one thing Zatanna did know for certain. She had just witnessed the start of a beautiful, though unlikely, friendship.

* * *

Prompt: Pancakes


	8. Cookies

**A/N 11-1-10**: From henceforth may the running gag for Robin's nickname be fully appreciated.

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Chapter 8: Cookies

Life in a cage passed quickly for Jinx, yet slowly as well. Spells, magical lore and artifacts occupied Jinx's mornings. Mathematics, literature, grammar, science, history, sleight of hand, and occasionally a visit through the Looking Glass to the Batcave, Shortpants, and his masked guardian filled her afternoons and evenings. But even as the months rolled by Jinx combated her seclusion by thoroughly exploring every nook and cranny in Shadowcrest, or at least trying too, and driving the household up the wall.

Narrowed pink eyes peeked over the edge of the love-seat. "Mission Log, this is Agent J reporting in. I and Agent Omega are behind enemy lines and approaching the target without detection."

The green army helmet clad head ducked down, and Jinx pressed herself against the back of the love-seat and looked at her brother-in-arms, Agent Omega, aka Zachary.

"Agent Omega, the target's in sight. Prepare to move."

"Roger Agent J. Shall we commence with the full frontal charge?" Zachary asked tilting his nerf gun into the air.

Jinx shook her head and peered around the edge of the love-seat. "Negative. This mission requires maximum stealth. Utilize Attack Plan Alpha. Move out!"

Both rolled out from behind the love-seat at opposite ends of the coach. Zachary, abandoning his nerf weapon behind the love-seat, stood, brushed off his jacket, and strolled over to the kitchen counter.

"Afternoon Maria," he greeted the cook, a middle-aged mother bearing silver streaks in her hair and a sixth sense for detecting mischief and intrusion in her kitchen's affairs.

"Zachary," she replied a twinkle sparkling in her eyes and creasing her laugh lines. "You wouldn't happen to be sniffing around for a bite to eat?" she scolded

Zachary feigned indignation. "Me, sniffing for food this close to supper-time? You wound me, Maria."

"Really," she asked as she briskly wiped her floury hands on her apron. Behind her back Jinx slunk across the kitchen cabinets.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Nicole."

Jinx froze hand open and fishing for her target before sheepishly turning her head to face Maria.

"No sweets before dinner," Maria lectured shooing the interloper off her counter and out of her kitchen. "You know the rules, now clear out."

Sighing, Jinx relinquished her prize, melancholy ingrained in the slump of her shoulders at being so easily seen through, and she left the cookie jar behind her while silently bidding farewell to the triple chunk chocolate chip cookies and dejectedly trudged out of the kitchen with a chuckling Agent Omega trailing behind.

* * *

Prompt: See through


	9. Hack

**A/N 11-3-10**: I'm slightly frightened; DTRH is receiving a lot more attention then I'm used to receiving as an author, to my greatest pleasure, and I got slammed for being insecure about my writing in a review reply. I adore you guys, you the readers for reading this and liking this as much as I do. Thanks so much for the support.

* * *

Chapter 9: Hack

When Jinx was twelve she was kicked out of the Batcave (indefinitely), and banned from any and all travels through the Looking Glass to her deepest heartbreak.

Fuming billionaires, angry acrobats, and a miffed mistress of magic failed to shame Jinx into contriteness. Even grounded she maintained an indignant self-defense.

"If he didn't want me on his computer and looking through his files, then he shouldn't have left it sitting there unprotected. He brought this on himself!"

In response Zatanna lengthened her sentence of grounding citing that she, Jinx, obviously needed more time to reflect the concept of respecting other people's privacy and personal property.

Jinx snidely retaliated that if that was the lesson she was supposed to learn, then she should be locked up amidst a trove of cursed magical objects with nasty side effects.

In return Zatanna replied, "What makes you think I haven't?"

* * *

Prompt: Heartbreak


	10. Breafast

**A/N 11-4-10**: Well, I am quite the night owl, I will admit. Chapter 9 was submitted in the wee hours of the morning, and ch10 in the late hours of the evening.

* * *

Chapter 10: Breakfast

The morning Jinx's life changed forever started with her groaning awake with the first rays of the sun and the merry chirping of bird song. For a futile thirty minutes Jinx borrowed sleep by using her pillow as shelter from the bright piercing light invading her slumber. Of course in the end resistance proved futile once the alarm clock Zatanna had enchanted especially to wake her pillow-happy pupil began pouncing on top of Jinx's pillow covered head.

Sleepy eyes peered out of their den and flared pink causing the bouncing alarm on top of her pillow to float placidly to her nightstand. For a moment Jinx allowed herself to wallow in her warm sheets before "facing the day" as Maria said. With a grumble she pushed off her pillow and fell dramatically out of bed. Crossing her eyes at herself in the mirror, Jinx zoomed through her preparations picking a jean skirt, violet shirt and daring black and purple knee high socks, gave her face a parting look and zipped off downstairs hatless, absently scratching her scalp.

Maria had this pesky rule that if any hungry child wasn't down by eight then they could fend for breakfast themselves, and Jinx was sure she'd been able to charm Maria into making chocolate chip pancakes sometime in the next two days. Her pace picked up as she reached the stairs at the thought of golden, warm, chocolate goodness.

Down in the kitchen the thunder of oncoming footsteps warned the entire kitchen of the incoming blur. At the store Maria clucked her tongue, checked the time, 7:55, and checked the griddle.

"Incoming Maria," Zatanna said slyly between sips of coffee, a coy smile creeping onto her face.

"She's cutting it close today," Maria clucked snapping her washcloth over the sink of loaded dishes.

"As usual," Zatanna amiably agreed, and both women sighed in exasperation over their pink-eyed charge. Maria hummed thoughtfully.

"She's changed so much since you first brought her to Shadowcrest. She has so much more life in her now."

"And enough mischief to turn my hair as grey as yours," Zatanna harrumphed, mouth curling as she placed her cup down on the counter.

"Has she?" Maria hummed thoughtfully eyeing the Mistress of Magic's dark head. "I don't see any."

"And you never will."

Maria chuckled. "Vain aren't we?"

"I have a reputation to maintain," Zatanna returned lightly. "No one comes to see an aged performer unless they are a legend."

"Well, you'd better start working on your legendary status because here she is."

And Jinx slid into the kitchen, glanced at the clock and smiled in triumph.

"Three pancakes please," she chirped puppy eyes turned full force on Maria.

"Of course, child," Maria clucked reaching over to the cabinet, plucking a clean plate and giving the clock a disapproving stare. 7:58 am. "You cut it close again, Nicole," Maria chided. Jinx grinned, grabbed the plate with happy thanks and darted to the table.

Glancing up from the Magic Monthly section, Zatanna watched her student ferret around the stack of newspapers. "Comics are below the Classifieds," she said picking up her cup again and diverting her attention to the article before her: _The First Amulet of Magic: Myth or Morgaine?_ "After breakfast we're going to construct a china shop from some heirlooms and refine your control." She remarked between sips of coffee.

"I thought you told me not to hex any of your heirlooms. Priceless, irreplaceable, cursed artifacts and stuff," Jinx said between a bite of syrup saturated pancake and a gulp of orange juice.

"Mouth closed," Zatanna corrected, and Jinx rolled her eyes but complied. "And these aren't my family heirlooms. They're my great aunt's twice removed on my mother's side, and trust me, they're practically pleading with me to be destroyed."

* * *

Prompt: Bird Song


	11. Target

**A/N 11-8-10:** Don't worry, this is another double whammy. Resolution will be found in the next chapter for all of you going "...what?". And, I challenge those after reading ch 12 to go back to ch 10 and see if they can pick up on my subtle foreshadowing.

* * *

Chapter 11: Target

"Head up. Back straight. Quick movements," Zatanna shot out commands, blue eyes fixed on her apprentice as with great precision Nicole targeted and fired wave after wave of pink energy at a lineup of pricelessly ugly pieces of porcelain.

"Shoulders back, feet shoulder with apart," Zatanna continued her pace across the room. "Relax, and blast them."

A wave of pink energy flared from Jinx's hands and decimated a row of cutlery. Another caused two slim necked vases to shatter spontaneously.

"Very good, but precision and control are their own rewards. In the future you may want to be subtle in the use of your powers. Take them down one by one."

A frown marred Nicole's look of concentration, and she bit her lip as she set upon her new task. At first her next hex shattered two bowls and a dish; and Zatanna noticed the scowl's appearance on Jinx's features deepen into a valley between her eyebrows.

"Zee," called an outside voice, and Zatanna turned toward the frowning face of her cousin, Zachary. "Keep at it and gradually begin increasing your speed," she called over her shoulder before giving her cousin her full attention.

Three plates the next time. Then two bowls. Finally, between five small shot glasses and two vases, Jinx successfully took down a bowl, plate, cup, and a coffee mug each on their own without any unplanned causalities.

Pleased with her progress, Jinx casually lost her tense posture and a self satisfied smile spread across her face. One hand absently reached up to begin scratching vigorously at her scalp, and the other continued her work. With a snap pink energy darted out in neat circles and danced around a chicken shaped teapot until the chicken fell apart.

Point, shatter. Point, explode. Point, melt. Ooh, that was new.

Eyes flashing Jinx spread her fingers while wondering if she could cause any of the dishes to fuse together. The sudden weight of a hand on her shoulder caused Jinx to impulsively jerk. The flinch coincided with a release of a fresh hex. Jinx watched in mute horror as the charge jumped wildly around the room before disappearing into the ceiling. As the electricity short-circuited the room plunged into darkness.

"thgiL," rung out a commanding tone and an orb of light appeared hovering in Zatanna's hands. Blinking in surprise, Jinx shielded her eyes while smiling sheepishly.

"Oops." At the lack of a reprimand, she shifted forward on the balls of her feet and peered curiously at her guardian. "What's up?"

Zatanna sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Nicole, but I've been summoned to help with a League problem."

"League problem," Jinx echoed. "But I thought you were on the League's reserve list?"

Zatanna smiled and laughed softly as keen blue eyes locked onto the top of her pupil's head. "I am, but the JL has a magical problem that they need my help with."

"That bad, huh?"

"Very bad," Zachary commented from the doorway. "And particularly nasty. I'm sure glad_ I_ don't have to tango with that work of art."

"I'll be leaving you here with Zachary and Maria," Zatanna continued. "No funny business." She warned sternly, and she turned toward the door coat tails drifting after her. Pausing in the doorway, she turned and gave her pupil another serious look.

"You might wish to examine you head in a mirror with good lighting," Zatanna said cheekily while gesturing at her own scalp. "What you see might surprise you."

Turning she left the room, a smirk plastered on her face as she imagined the look on her pupil's face and began guessing when the sputtering would begin.

* * *

Prompt: Sputtering


	12. Sneaky

**A/N**: The challenge still stands. Go back and look for the foreshadowing. Hello, mnemonic language!

* * *

Chapter 12: Sneaky

Zatanna's departure was marked by a thunderstorm, two adults bidding farewell at the door, and one child watching from an upstairs window. Top hat tucked underneath her arm Zatanna tugged on her gloves all while issuing commands.

"Zachary, you're to hold up the fort on this end. Keep a crystal ball nearby; I might call you for referencing purposes." Blue eyes darted at the cook. "Maria, I don't expect to be home in time for dinner, so all I expect of you is to make dinner and take the rest of the day off. I've assigned Jinx clean-up duty, and two hours of magical study. That should keep her occupied, but stick your head in on her every now and again, Zachary."

"Of course," Zachary replied, a lazy smile on his face.

"No parties," Zatanna warned, and at the look of complete seriousness, Zachary deflated.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he muttered a decided frown decorating his face.

Satisfied and placing her top hat on her head, Zatanna crossed the threshold and set off down the cobblestone path towards the gates and vanished into the fog.

"Dramatic as usual," Maria sighed from her perch in the doorway absently twisting a dishrag.

"She misses her shows," Zachary replied in response still slightly sullen. "Well, back to the books. I need to find a magical loophole in _No parties_."

Chuckling heartily, Maria followed him into the house closing the door behind her.

Four floors above their heads a cat-eyed tween frowned at her reflection in a round looking glass.

"It's pink," she groused to herself as she inspected the numerous spikes of hair jutting out of her scalp. "Pink," she bemoaned to Lucky. Of all the colors for her hair to be.

The German Shepherd merely took the opportunity to lick the cheek presented before his muzzle. Sputtering out appropriate noises of disgust, Jinx shoved him off and scrambled across the empty floors to the one window open to the outside world. Hiking up the edge of her violet shirtsleeve she whipped away the grime from the window and peered down at the walkway leading away from Shadowcrest to Earth.

Nothing but mist.

"Ok," she said to Lucky. "The coast is clear." Dashing across the floorboards, the dog right on her heels, she slid to a stop in front of the Looking Glass. Grabbing a black backpack resting by the side of the round mirror, she flung it over her shoulder and grabbed Lucky's leather collar.

"Alright, Lucky, here we go." Raising her right hand to touch the mirror's surface she intoned, "ekaT em ot niboR."

The mirror's surface glowed; passing to the girl and her dog the shine enveloped the pair. And when the glow vanished it left an empty, dusty room.

Jinx was out.

* * *

Prompt: Out


	13. Lost

**A/N 11-11-10**: I glanced over this chapter right after I published skimming for typos, and only then did I realize how cliche chapter it was and burst out laughing. This chapter could only be any worse if I had a flying house and tornado. Oh, what was I thinking when I channeled Lewis Carol and L. Frank Baum? Maybe some of you won't get this until next Tuesday, but wow, lizz, wow.

* * *

Chapter 13: Lost

The spell dragged Jinx and Lucky through a maze of mirrors, an endless prism of reflecting surfaces and interment spaced windows leading to the outside world. While Jinx was no master of her teacher's special focus for magic, the backwards language, she could use it in small ways, such as small transport spells of familiar objects or people through the mirror dimension. But now the transport spell squeezed Jinx and Lucky dragging them down turn after turn, deeper into the unchanging maze, yanking her sideways, and finally expelling her at a destination.

To all outsiders looking at the scene Jinx's appearance would be reminiscent of the scene from Mary Poppins when the quartet jumped into a sidewalk chalk drawing. Jinx and Lucky jumped out of their exit in the Mirror Maze, a glass storefront window, and landed not where she had planned.

Jinx frowned severely at the scenery around her and tugged her Giants baseball hat down lower over her face. Around her car horns honked in a manner as obnoxious as their pilot's driving, exhaust attacked her nostrils, and the hot sun beat down between the sparkling steel structures scraping the sky.

This was not the gloomy Batcave, the place where Jinx had intended to go. This was Trouble with a capital T.

"Lucky, I don't think we're in Gotham anymore."

* * *

Prompt: Sideways

Sticky Note at the Bottom of the Page: "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Actually, Jinx, yes, you are in Kansas. Hope everyone out there is laughing too.


	14. Disguise

Chapter 14: Disguise

"Lucky, I don't think we're in Gotham anymore."

Instead of Gotham they were in Kansas, Metropolis, Kansas, to be precise, and that was very, very bad.

Old survival instincts long dormant kicked in prompting Jinx to keep a firm hold on Lucky's collar, and the two ducked out of sight into the closest alley.

Sliding down the brick wall, Jinx dug into her backpack shifting around its contents until her eyes lit as she grabbed the correct item.

"The Ring of Illusions," she said while admiring her purloined souvenir from Shadowcrest. She had at first borrowed the ring with every intention of showing it to Robin before returning it to its proper place back home, but now she needed it for practical purposes. Jinx needed to hide. Glancing over at Lucky she whispered, "Alert."

Immediately, all playfulness left Lucky's demeanor. Ears pricked forward, posture straightened, and the guard dog emerged from his two year old frame. Satisfied, Jinx turned back to the ring, slipping the band on the finger which fit best, her thumb. Bending her head she whispered to the ring, and the white opal glowed illuminating the rainbow flecks inside.

Pink eyes turned brown, olive tinged skin became porcelain. Gone was Jinx hidden beneath layers of magic, and the two star-crossed voyagers emerged and wandered the streets of Metropolis.

* * *

Prompt: Gone


	15. Reporter

Chapter 15: Reporter

Life in the bullpen rushed on in the usual chaotic manner in the offices of the Daily Planet. Three armed car robberies, two standoffs, and one workers strike had scattered the Planet's reporters across Metropolis, even managing to split the dynamic duo of Lois Lane and Clark Kent. Of course, Lois groused, it didn't take much to split the pair.

At some point during any story the two caught wind of, her partner disappeared. His vanishing act appeared as faithfully as the rising of the sun. And in the heart of Metropolis, once again, Lois could find neither hide nor hair of her fellow reporter.

Forcing down her simmering annoyance, Lois headed for the closest thinking space she could see, a park. Storming over to the closest park bench, Lois plopped down and indulged herself in a few moments of pure fuming. But the ill mood subsided to be supplanted by the recent events Lois would construct and report for her next story, so surrounded by lush green lawns, happy families, and tall shade-bearing tress Lois plotted and conducted her thoughts.

Eyes gazing sightlessly at the scenery in front of her and itching feet tapping against the marble tile plaque beneath the bench Lois finally decided, as she had before, that partner or no partner she would find the next story using any means possible, and if that meant having only her name on the byline then that was more than perfectly acceptable.

The clearing of a small throat jerked Lois back to reality, and she came eye to eye with intense dark-brown eyes. And even as the kid in front of her addressed her with the utmost solemnity ("Excuse me—") Lois felt in her gut that instead of having to go out and find her story, it had come and found her instead, in the form of a twelve-ish year old girl and her pet German Shepherd, and a sentence that contained the phrases: "I'm lost," and "I'm looking for a Mister Clark Kent."

* * *

Prompt: Tile


	16. Call

**A/N 11-18-10:** Wow, so many people are yearning for an "evil" KF. Evil huh? Well, he's getting there if my current writings in the HIVE arc are anything to go by.I feel everyone should know that Down the Rabbit Hole is taking the scenic route. Consider it a story with many acts. Act One is Jinx's preTitan days. HIVE Wally is so much fun to write. Sadly, the HIVE arc starts with chapter 35 after I've wrapped up Jinx's preTitan days. I loved writing this chapter too. I warn you; I was highly influenced by the Smallville renditions of these characters, so if anything seems a bit off, that's why. Let's see a quick list of my story arcs: J's preT days. HIVE arc. I hate you arc. We're friends after a fashion arc, and the Deciding Time arc. Take it as you will.

* * *

Chapter 16: Call

Five phone calls, twenty text messages, fifteen beepers, twelve blackberries, and seven irate phone conversations with the personal back at the Planet ("No, we haven't heard from or seen Mr. Kent since you left Ms. Lane. We promise.") and Lois' simmering annoyance from earlier had morphed into a fully fledged ire as she tried and failed repeatedly to get in contact with her MIA partner and coworker. Smashing her finger viciously into the End button on her phone, Lois took a moment to just glare at her empty message box. No voicemails, no texts, no missed calls, and no incoming calls. It was as if her partner had left the planet. Oh, Smallville would be getting an earful when she next saw him.

"Maybe you should call him," piped up the young, tween—at least that's what Lois thought the kids between ten and twelve called themselves, the young, self-important upstarts—girl, who lay at the center of this whole mess. The lost girl thoroughly convinced only Clark Kent could help her in a way the police could not. And it was only for the tween with the doe-brown eyes staring up so trustingly into hers that Lois lassoed her wayward temper and wrangled it under control, so she wouldn't snap the tween's head off.

"That's what I've been doing," she said in a return maybe a might too tight and controlled to pass for casual. The Giants capped tween scrunched her face in a frown, and she absently reached down to scratch the ears of Lucky, her German Shepherd.

"No, I mean call him. No phones, no texts, just say his name out loud. Call him."

For a moment Lois stared blankly at the girl in front of her sitting on a bench with her dog in Metropolis. The girl who claimed to be from Gotham and lost. She should really take her to the police and let them handle this mess, but…

Lois sighed in defeat and ruefully pocketed her phone. "It's not going to work," she cautioned her unwanted charge. But she was Lois Lane, and she was thorough. If she would break and enter into Luther Corp to find a lead to cement a story, and go to whatever other slightly less then legal means to get her story no matter what the cost, then she had to at least try. Then she could rub her failure in the girl's face as she handed her off to the police. After all humiliation, embarrassment, and dignity had long ago ceased being relevant in her career.

Looking to the cloud-strewn afternoon sky Lois let out a long, exasperated call.

"Clark! I need you. Now!"

She waited still staring at the sky, as if expecting Superman to fly by and drop off her errant coworker before turning to, Nicole was it, and saying, "I told you it wouldn't work."

Nicole simply stared right past her a smug smile spreading across her face. Heart sinking Lois turned following her gaze and saw _him_ walking down the populated path dodging joggers, waving his phone in the air.

"Lois, I got your messages. Sorry it took so long to meet up. You wouldn't believe the traffic…"

* * *

Prompt: Control


	17. Conversation

**A/N 11-22-10**: This is the sequel to Chapter 9; This chapter and those with similar uncanny revelations all go back to Jinx browsing the Bat files on everyone.

* * *

Chapter 17: Conversation

Time ebbed in that park in Metropolis, a natural haven for its residents. Time's flow curled and twisted like a spinner around the lost girl who had stumbled so inadvertently out of her proper place. But Time adapts and is not a linear march forward, but twisting, coiling force] always moving forward no matter the obstacles in the path.

So in that park Lois Lane was dispatched by a clever twelve year-old to retrieve Lucky after he perked up to the park's native squirrel population. A lax grip, a sudden bolt forward, and Lucky was off to the races with Lois on his heels. Clark and the dog's young owner watched the pair's departure with bemusement and apathy, respectively.

"We're alone," Clark spoke up, blue eyes behind the thick glasses lenses darting towards, "Nicole, was it?"

Nicole gave a solemn nod, brown eyes not straying from the comic duo darting amongst the trees.

"So was the hand signal a deliberate ploy to send him after those squirrels, or did you just let your guard down?" Clark asked casually before turning to look sternly at Nicole. "If you wanted to talk with me privately, all you had to do was ask."

Caught, a small blush darted across Nicole's pale skin before she finally made eye contact. "The hand signal meant relax. It's the one I give him when I want him to act natural."

She had thought she'd been discreet when she'd given Lucky that hand sign, but apparently those eyes didn't miss anything, glasses or not.

Clark nodded watching the invisible wall between himself and Nicole began to crumble. Honesty after all fosters much trust, and this kid, if not already honest, would soon be a melting pot of virtue.

"I needed to talk to you alone without curious ears nearby," Nicole said. "I need your help."

Clark nodded, satisfied with the truth she'd spoken thus far and already empathetic to someone in need, and not just someone, a child. "How can I help?"

"I'm lost," Nicole admitted with a tinge of helplessness sneaking into her voice. "And I can't go to the police. I'm not supposed to be outside my…home, but I decided to visit a…friend, but somehow I got lost."

"Why come to me?" Clark asked.

Nicole squirmed uncomfortably into the bench. "You know my Uncle. Well, he's not my _real_ uncle, but I think of him like one. If I had a family, he'd be my eccentric uncle."

"Who's your uncle?" Clark gently inquired successfully derailing her tangent.

"He's a friend of my guardian. You know him, my uncle, and he can get me home."

"He?"

Uneasy, and justifiably so, Nicole released whatever control she had over the situation that had quickly spun out of control by saying, "Mr. Bruce Wayne."

* * *

Prompt: Spinner


	18. Confession

**A/N 11-26-10**: In the spirit of the holiday season I am gifting all author's notes readers with the knowledge that on my profile I have dedicated a space for Down the Rabbit Hole Previews for the Kid Flash. Yes, that Kid Flash, the one who has yet to make an appearance in Down the Rabbit Hole. Alleviate the wait for his appearance with these previews and visit my profile.

* * *

Chapter 18: Confession

After Nicole's admission the conversation quickly shifted, so that the person she appealed to was no longer Clark Kent, reporter of the Daily Planet, but Superman, the Man of Steel.

"Why do you think I know Bruce Wayne?" Clark said in a puzzled tone.

"One day I was visiting Uncle Bruce's ward, Richard, and in this…basement I found a computer. The basement was pretty creepy, cave-like with lots of bats, and it had this computer in it, and I found _you_ in its files."

That caused an arched eyebrow. Jinx winced at his disapproval and dropped all gambits to sheepishly admit, "Once he found out I'd been on his computer, I had to go home, and my guardian grounded me. I haven't been back since. I missed Richard, so I snuck out; but now I'm lost, and I can't find my way home, and no one's supposed to know I exist."

Somewhere in that long trail of babbling Jinx's voice had changed to a higher pitched, throat knotted tone. Superman's arched eyebrow of skepticism easily slipped to a look filled with compassion. With a gentle smile and a comforting grip, he touched her shoulder. "Don't worry. You won't stay lost for long."

Lois returned after that with a content Lucky panting happily in tow, and all further conversation ceased.

* * *

Prompt: Gambit


	19. Return

**A/N 11-29-10**: Well, I have happily been writing the HIVE arc for dtrh. Kid's been hard to pin, but aggressive negotiations will succeed in have our charming anti-hero grace the chapters of this story. And then eventually the flinx will appear, but it will take the scenic route. You'll understand when they meet for the first time in 8 chapters. check out my profile. I have previews up for chapters 25-30 and for some of Kid's dialogue samples (for those of you who are chomping at the bit for Kid's appearance).

* * *

Chapter 19: Return

Life for Zatanna Zatara somehow, after that magical misadventure, was looking up. Trying to change Captain Carrot from rabbit form to human along with his merry crew had been a long and arduous toil, but she had succeeded. Now returning to Shadowcrest, she looked forward to a cup of Earl Grey and an evening reading The Book of Zatara. Melting already at the thought of such a peaceful evening (with maybe an hour or three spared to direct her apprentice and refine her control) Zatanna crossed dimensions from Gotham across Shadowcrest's borders.

She hadn't made it ten steps inside the door before the tableau in front of her succeeded in derailing any plans she had for a peaceful evening.

"So," asked Superman complete with the blue tights, read cape, and signature S from where he hovered by her doorway. "When were you going to tell me about this?"

A looming shadow to his right alerted Zatanna to Batman's presence, and huddling between them was her apprentice. Zatanna bid her evening goodbye as she prepared to face the music.

* * *

Prompt: Peace


	20. Explanation

**A/N 12-06-10**: Well, this is late because I had to rewrite it. Why? I haven't given Zatanna her proper due. She's awesome. My favorite female superhero now. And the spell directed toward Batman, that's a direct quote from DC comics, that she said, to Batman. She is that awesome and deserves recognition for such character traits.

* * *

Chapter 20: Explanation

If there was one thing Jinx loved about Zatanna, it was the fact she was one tough cookie. Now admittedly, Jinx wasn't looking forward to an extension on her grounding, but she loved how her mentor stood up to the two iconic legends trespassing in her home and refused to be intimidated.

"Well, I see you've met my student," Zatanna said glancing between Jinx and the two capes. "Batman, you seem exceptionally grim today." With a wave of her hand two chairs pulled out a side table and a tray laden with a steaming teapot and cups floated over. "Tea?"

Jinx glanced between her teacher and the door across the room all the while plotting an escape route. As if he could sense her nervousness, Superman briefly patted her shoulder before walking over to the offered chair and sitting. "Yes, please."

"Jinx," Zatanna said, sparing a look that promised a future reckoning, "I believe Maria left a plate of dinner for you in the fridge." Grateful for the escape Jinx hurried off smiling while she left a small listening spell on the door. In the living room, Zatanna turned towards the only person in the room still standing. "Well," she prompted, "Go ahead and say it."

White eyelets narrowed accusingly. "She got out," Batman said. "And you didn't know."

"And you didn't call," she shot back, and crossed her arms.

"That's not relevant," Batman started.

"It's perfectly relevant. The League calls me from the reserves for the first time in two years, my student has a magical misadventure under my nose, you find out, and don't' call. It's perfectly relevant!"

Batman held his ground glowering impressively, "She's under your care, and you didn't take steps to make sure she didn't run away."

"Run away? She did not-,"

"She left Shadowcrest," Batman interrupted, his grating voice tersely spitting out facts. "And bungled a transportation spell and landed in Metropolis, alone, left to the mercy of strangers."

"Well, seeing who she found, she's resourceful enough to-,"

"Zatanna, if you continue to live in this fantasy that you can shelter her-,"

"Fantasy," Zatanna interrupted cheeks flushing red. The insult rang in her indignant voice. Accepting the challenge she retaliated at the insufferable man. "You know what, Batman- SSIK YM TTUB!"

And finally sanity penetrated the chaos of heated emotions with Superman's "Enough!" And he pulled the two apart and gave Zatanna a stern look. Letting out a huff, Zatanna complied.

"Fine," she said grudgingly. "Lecnac."

The air around Batman shimmered then faded, Zatanna's former spell gone.

"Put me down," Batman demanded, displeasure radiating off him. Zatanna too spared a glare for Superman.

Glancing between the Magician and the Bat, Superman nodded, pleased with some unspoken quality and set the two down. "Alright," he said. "I just want the basics. Nicole's your student?" he asked.

"Yes," Zatanna sighed.

"And she's the reason you switched to the League's reserve and stopped most of your performances."

Again, "Yes."

"Why isn't she allowed outside?" Superman asked brushing off other magical related questions. With a final sigh of resignation, Zatanna began to narrate the short version of Jinx's long story. At the end of her narration, Zatanna concluded, "I assume when she left this afternoon, it was to show Robin her hair." A smile stretched across her face and warmed her eyes. "For two years, Jinx has been happily bald, and suddenly, poof, pink hair starts growing. It's the best magic trick I've seen in years."

The conversation drifted on in a similar fashion misunderstandings resolved, and whatever sickness that may have begun to soil the bonds between the trio quickly healed. Although Zatanna only knew Superman from her involvement in the League, she knew Bruce trusted him, and if that paranoid billionaire friend of hers could trust the Man of Steel, then so could she.

Never a patient man for idle prattle while the cowl rested on his head, Batman returned to Gotham with Superman following. Emerging from the woodworks of the manor, illusion free Jinx joined Zatanna at the gates of Shadowcrest, and thus heard Superman's promise.

"Your secret is safe with me."

Beaming, Jinx lept forward and hugged America's Boy Scout in thanks. Laughing, he ruffled her pink beanie, and Zatanna smiled satisfied.

* * *

Prompt: Sickness


	21. Growth

**A/N 12-6-10**: Well, we're skirting ahead through the years now. This is the last chapter Jinx will be 12. She will have many birthdays over the next three chapters, and we're building up toward the Jump City story arc and chapter 26 aka the appearance for the fl in flinx. And way ahead in ch 40 KF is running for his freedom in Central City. Until then Jinx grows up.

* * *

Chapter 21: Growth

The rest of Jinx's twelfth year passed in an endless routine with only subtle variations and unexpected events to spice up the monotony. Zatanna, after thoroughly dressing Jinx down for her reckless behavior, taught Jinx how to correctly utilize her magic to travel through the Looking Glass without any misadventures or side-trips to far away cities, but six months passed before Jinx finally managed to enchant a mirror with her own magic to enter the Mirror dimension without her magic cracking the mirror and thus destroying the spell; but the day Jinx perfected the spell was the day a reign of terror descended upon Wayne Manor.

("Hey, Shortpants! Did you miss me?")

Of course, maybe only Robin viewed Jinx's endless popping up as annoying. Batman viewed her presence as an irritating but tolerated entity to be carefully monitored, and Alfred welcomed her with the same open arms and warmth that he showed Bruce and Dick.

Magic lessons proceeded at Shadowcrest, and somehow Jinx's and Robin's smackdowns (that always occurred whenever she appeared) gradually evolved into sparring sessions and then training sessions when Robin eventually decided to teach his not-quite-really friend how to properly defend herself instead of the motley gymnastic style she utilized.

But, oh, how the stars did fly and the silly grins of glee abound when Zatanna finally deemed Jinx in enough control of her powers to use them in front of others, and when Batman deemed it appropriate Robin should know how to fight a magic user and roped off an area of the Batcave for Jinx to utilize.

"Hey, Shortpants, ready for some bad luck?"

Eyes—that she'd discovered were blue—hidden by the mask narrowed as Robin's face morphed into an anticipatory grin.

* * *

Prompt: Silly


	22. Foiled

**A/N 12-6-10**: Well, for you keen readers you, you may have noticed the past two author's notes bear the same date. There is a reason for that. I'm not updating until possibly 12-16-10; It's finals, and I, I am a college student. I'll be to busy studying, so there will be no updates until the 16th unless I need a stress reliever and jump ahead prematurely. I hope you enjoyed the massive update.

* * *

Chapter 22: Foiled

When Jinx was thirteen, Robin broke her heart.

"But, but, it was so," Jinx sputtered pointing a shocked finger accusingly at Robin. "You were so," she continued and finally her temper snapped. "It was so perfect! Why did you change it?"

Still lingering in the shadows he'd sequestered himself in, Robin stepped directly into the light revealing to Jinx the source of her consternation, long green "tights", and black tennis shoes.

"I don't like being called Shortpants," he replied throwing a telling glare at Jinx.

Shoulders squared and hands fisted at her side Jinx shouted, "But I like that nickname!"

"Exactly," came the smug reply.

Growling, Jinx tossed aside her jean jacket, and, glad that her pink hair was still short enough to not get in her eyes, she tackled the spoiler of her fun with vengeance resting on her mind.

* * *

Prompt: Jacket


	23. Promise

Chapter 23: Promise

By the time Jinx had turned fourteen a whole whirlwind of events had shaped her life: the loss of her parents, her out of control powers, finding Zatanna, and making her first—albiet strange—friend. And as a friend she found herself in the middle of her fourteenth year sitting at her kitchen table across from Robin (who for the first time came to see her through the Looking Glass) sipping a cup of hot chocolate and listening to Robin's rants.

To put it simply Batman and Robin hadn't been seeing…eye to eye recently.

"Look I know things are tense, and I know Bats isn't the most pleasant person to live with (insert glare here) or even the most affectionate, but leaving, really?" Jinx asked. "Isn't that kind of like quitting? And the Robin I know doesn't quit."

"It's not quitting," he retorted hands clenching around his I Heart Gotham mug. "It's branching out, growing. I'm tired of being treated like a kid!"

"But where would you go?" Jinx asked, eyes furrowed in concentration. "What would you do?"

"What I've been doing. Stopping criminals and protecting innocent lives. And where? As far away as possible."

Jinx nodded and sipped her cocoa, cradling the warm cup in her hands as she tried to ignore the fact that she was on the verge of losing someone, again.

"Well, wherever you go," she finally said. "I'll still be your friend. And if you need help, just call."

* * *

Prompt: Table


	24. Gloom

Chapter 24: Gloom

At fifteen Jinx became depressed. Cloistered in her room she locked herself away from the world, enforcing her spells of protection with her biting magic. One by one all inhabitants of Shadowcrest exchanged concerned glances before Zachary and Maria ganged up on Zatanna.

"I've tried talking to her," the magician argued. "She won't listen to me." Dissatisfied faces let her know exactly how the pair felt about that response. "I'm worried about her too," Zatanna admitted with a sigh. "The magical enforcements around her room won't let me in, and even though I could disable them to check on her, I will not intrude on her privacy."

"Then do something else," Zachary challenged now a strapping lad in his late teens. "She's wilting up there, pining away, and she doesn't want our help."

"I already have," Zatanna affirmed using her solemn blue eyes to reassure that of course she was on top of the situation.

…

Up in her room Jinx lay listlessly on her bed staring moodily at the ceiling. She was brooding, and that was a new low even for her, which upset her all the more, for the only person she knew who was allowed to brood…was the cause of her moodiness. Rolling onto her stomach, Jinx proceeded to glare at her crystal ball (birthday gift from Zee complete with magical wifi), but the enchanted ball remained whole, much to Jinx's disappointment.

She hated Robin. Hated him, for finally leaving Gotham, and leaving her, trapping her here. Because really, who else was she able to pop in and visit besides him? No one! While, she adored Alfred (the man was a saint) without Robin to buffer Batman's…ah, bridled enthusiasm, visiting the Batcave was as cheery as visiting a graveyard.

Nope, while Robin was off playing superhero on the West Coast with his band of newly formed Titans, Jinx was stuck at Shadowcrest and after five years of the same scenery, the same halls, the same faces, and even the same cool mystical artifacts, the enchanted library _and_ the secret passages, everything had become dull.

A soft rap on the door rang out.

"Go away," Jinx said and rolling on her side away from the door.

"Can't do that Sweet."

Rolling to her feet, Jinx sat up and stared at the door, eyeing it as if it had grown a head. What, or really, who was that?

Tiptoeing across the floor, Jinx cracked open the door, and her eyes widened at the sight of the person in front of her.

"Hey, Little One," greeted Cassandra, red curls pulled back into a French twist. "May I come in?"

Jinx stepped back and opened the door.

* * *

Prompt: Ringed


	25. Hope

Chapter 25: Hope

"Little One, sulking never solved anything," Cassandra chided from her seat at Jinx's desk. Jinx had resumed lying on the floor.

"There's nothing left I can do," she replied bitterly as she eyed the ceiling critically. "My magic's under control. My best friend moved, and Zatanna and I have reached a magical roadblock with my magic and her knowledge. While she is the Mistress of Magic, she doesn't exactly specialize in my field of magic, and whenever we try to get more complicated into Backwards Language magic or other brands of magic my powers go kablooie!"

"Kablooie?" Cassandra echoed, amusement tugging at the ends of her smile.

"Yeah, one big BOOM! Whatever the spell, it backfires spectacularly." A pause, and Jinx rolled over and propped herself up on an elbow eyeing Cassandra speculatively. "Hey Cassandra?"

"Yes, Little One?"

Wide pink eyes stared soulfully into Cassandra's dark brown. "Why can't I see the outside world? Why do I have to hide?"

"Oh, Jinx," Cassandra sighed smile fading and eyes growing misty. "Ever yearning, ever longing, always denied and hiding," she continued eyes locked directly with Jinx's pink, but seeing past her into Time. Looking into the past, the present, the future. Distant brown eyes glowing with an inner golden flame looked across Time somehow transforming the woman before Jinx into something not quite human, something alien.

The resounding authority in which Cassandra spoke froze Jinx. "The time for your appearance has not yet come. Any earlier deviation will cause Time to unravel and become undone. You must _not_ leave."

And the ethereal glow vanished from brown eyes, and a sigh of relief issued from Jinx; she could move again, and her gaze was free. When she next locked eyes with Cassandra, kindness had replaced the unearthly light in her eyes and a soft smile curved along her pale face. "But there is a loophole.

"I saw a tiny frame of time in which you can emerge for a short while into the outside world without repercussions."

Jinx leaned forward with a rapidity that a cheetah would have envied. "I can leave?"

And Cassandra laughed, pleased at the wonder in the girl's voice. "Think of it as a vacation away from Shadowcrest and your studies. But there are rules," she cautioned, seriousness drifting into her features. "You will need an illusion to hide you from prying eyes and to fool security devices. You will need an alias, and hey-,"

Cassandra staggered backward, arms rising hesitantly to return the hug Jinx had spontaneously gifted her with (read: tackled), and finally she laughed and hugged the endearing sorceress back. "I am glad you are pleased."

Pulling back mischievous eyes sparkled with anticipation and excitement. "Rules later. What I want to know is what you _saw_."

Smiling good-naturedly, Cassandra reached over and ruffled Jinx's shoulder length hair, secretly thrilled the sadness had departed like night before the dawn. "So, you want spoilers, huh?" she teased. "But what's the fun in that?"

"Cassandra," Jinx whined, eyes pleading with her.

"Ok, ok. Let's see. What can I say?" Brown eyes became distant again with gold sparkling in their depths. "I saw a tower standing in the middle of a bay. I saw an adventure, a dear friend,

"And roses. I saw roses."

* * *

Prompt: Roses


	26. Introducing

**A/N 12-20-10**: Well, it's the moment you've all been salivating over. Introducing our beloved KF.

* * *

Chapter 26: Introducing

He wasn't strong. He wasn't smart, but he was fast, or at least he could be when he wished to be. More often than not he didn't wish to be fast, so he wasn't. As such he'd run into a few…problems during his life. The lack of a m.o., a real costume, and his unfortunate placement on a team of other misfits.

Everyone knew who he was. He was the scholarship kid whose grades danced between average and scholarship probationary period. He was the kid with the black mask and unadorned body suit.

Yes, walking down the yellow honeycomb halls of their extraordinary academy, everyone in the Academy knew who he was, the kid from Nebraska. He'd been placed on a team with Bumblebee because the headmistress thought she'd be a "good" influence on him aka bully him out of slacking off because everyone knew Bee was one of the best striving to be the best, and everyone knew that if someone in your team failed then the entire team failed.

Everyone knew what he could do, or at least thought they did. In reality many students admitted they only knew this. He wasn't strong. He wasn't smart, but he was fast, and he always did the bare minimum in order to get through training and shave the last seconds off the clock. Rumor had it that he once took a five minute nap during an obstacle course test, woke ten seconds before time ran out (two seconds before the professor was going to integrate him as part of his next doomsday device), sleepily yawned at the clock, blinked, and then was at the finish line resuming his nap with nine seconds to spare.

And everyone knew he had his own code of honor. He was the kind of guy who'd stay up the whole night helping you research and write that book report you forgot until the day before it was due. Sure he wasn't a genius or an enabler, but who else could grab the entire reference section and place it in your dorm in under ten seconds without fear of the HIVE's admittedly scary librarian?

And everyone at the Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young People knew not to ask about his past or his real name. When everyone swapped stories about how they got to HIVE, he'd just smile and say the Headmistress recruited him off the streets of Central City only the smile wouldn't quite reach his eyes which would than look like all of his characteristic light had just vanished.

No one asked about his past because they knew whatever his past was it was tragic; tragic enough to put him on the wrong side of the tracks.

* * *

Prompt: Tragic


	27. Assignment

**A/N 12-21-10**: I take it back. I'm not hurt. The feedback has finally started coming in, so at least I know my approach with villain KF though quite unique is going well. The shock and horror was not to great, and you'll be interested to know that Blood sinks his claws into KF. This KF is still very close to his prepower roots, so his character development as a villain is in progress.

* * *

Chapter 27: Assignment

"Kid, you will go out and do your job, or so help me I'll blast you into kingdom come."

"Yeah, ok, but if you don't mind, why kid?"

"I don't care who you are, or where you came from, Kid, but you are a lazy, procrastinating, immature brat. Kid defines your nature very well."

"You wound me, Bee."

"Goofball, now stop dragging your feet, speedster. We have a golden opportunity. Seemore and his goons have kicked the Titans out of their tower and across Jump. Seemore's celebrating and the Titans are licking their wounds. No one will be hitting the streets."

"Except us,"

"Except _you_."

"Me? Just me?"

"Yes, just you. Wykkyd and I have done our share of the assignment, and need I remind you that if you fail, we fail-,"

"No-,"

"And how's that fair if we do hard work-,"

"Bee,"

"then fail because our lousy teammate didn't keep his grades up. How is that fair?"

"I just don't wanna-,"

"I don't care if you don't _wanna_. You will go out into that city, Kid, pick someone's pocket, grab a purse, or steal an entire briefcase of some business man and nab his entire black berry collection, but Wykkyd and I aren't going to suffer because you don't _wanna_ to do anything!"

"Sheesh, fine. No need to get so prissy about it."

"Now Kid! Or does kingdom come mean nothing to you?"

"I'm gone."

And in a flash he was.

…

When Jinx was fifteen she met her arch-nemesis. Neither knew it at the time.

If Jinx had ever doubter her mentor's affection for her, then Zatanna quickly disproved all doubts if the weight of Jinx's backpack was anything to go by. Jinx was carrying more magical artifacts and had more wards placed on her person then she had ever handled at one time.

Cassandra had said Jinx could go out into the outside world, and Zatanna pulled out her magic wand and went nuts. If there were any magicians in Jump or those with the Sight, and they saw Jinx, she was pretty sure she'd look like something akin to a Christmas tree. Well, if they were very good magicians. Zatanna's favorite motto was sleight of hand after all.

After being issued a portal that would take her to the exact time and place she needed to be and being promised it'd reappear and quantum lock her before taking her home when her time was up, Jinx had stepped from the kitchen of Shadowcrest straight into a puddle in the streets of Jump City. From there not much had changed. From what Jinx could figure it was late afternoon, and no one was outside. Sections of downtown were wrecked, and everything was eerily quiet.

Glancing at her reflection in a storefront window, Jinx smiled and rubbed the Ring of Illusion gratefully. To all outsiders and nonmagic users she looked like Nicole her civilian identity, or so she had dubbed the brown-haired, brown-eyed, and pale complexioned girl she turned into on the rare occasion she ventured out into the outside world.

She hoped she looked unpretentious. Long dark jeans, nondescript violet cotton t-shirt, maybe too new, white sneakers, but they were easier to run in then her favorite pair of black converses. Ring of Illusion on her right hand and the time portal disguised as a choker necklace on her neck and hair just three inches past shoulder length pulled into a low ponytail.

Again Jinx's eyes strayed from the shop window down to the bay, and the T-shaped tower sitting on its own little island in the middle of the bay. That tower was Jinx's destination. Sure, she may have an adventure she was supposed to run into that included roses, but that adventure probably included said Tower, and its five residents, but if she had her way, Jinx's adventure would occur with just one of those residents, her best friend.

Plans for the day: find said best friend, yell at said best friend and beat him to a pulp. Hex him into the next century would have been included on the list except for the fact that one of Cassandra's rules had included: No powers, at all, for any reason or situation. That had led to the power inhibitor bracelet slapped on her right wrist.

But the magical arsenal in her backpack made up for it, and the entire backpack was warded so that only Jinx could handle its contents. Anyone else who had the audacity to try to appropriate her bag would be in for a nasty shock.

"Ow!"

Quite literally in fact. Spinning on her heel, Jinx came eye to nose with a black clad, spandex suited would be backpack snatcher waving his hands around quite…rapidly.

"Geez, what'd you wire that thing with, a taser?" complained the thief.

Glaring, Jinx stepped forward teeth bared. "Just who do you think you are, and why are you trying to take my backpack?"

"Not trying," the thief said, and Jinx tilted dangerously to the side as a burst of wind blindsided her. Another yelp emitted from the back of her head, and Jinx felt the shock as the thief reappeared behind her shaking his hands even more vigorously than before.

Crossing her arms, jutting out a hip, and putting on her best bored look, Jinx deadpanned, "You were saying?"

"Ok, fine," the black spandex guy said, "trying."

The smug smirk planted on Jinx's face disappeared with the loud squeal when another burst of wind spun her around in place, and balance compromised, she fell over. Eyes sparking and incensed over her bruised behind, Jinx grabbed the nearest projectile and chunked it at the black streak darting around her.

"Stop that," she cried and frowned when the attempted taker of her backpack appeared water bottle in hand. He could move faster then she could see; of course, the water bottle wouldn't hit him. "Leave me alone!"

"I really wish I could, but I can't. I need your backpack."

"Why?" asked Jinx, and she clenched the straps of her backpack tightly. "You're not getting anything."

Sighing heavily while eyeing her backpack like it was the most devious, unassuming backpack he had ever seen, he replied, "Sadly, that's correct, for now."

Swallowing hard, Jinx struggled to her feet and proceeded to glare as menacing a glare she could manage without her powers backing her up. "Look, I have very powerful friends who will get very mad if I get mad," she half bluffed. "If you want this backpack-which I'm not going to give you-then you'll have to go through me first."

The thief shrugged. "Ok," he said, and smiled as brilliantly as the sunset behind him. Faster than a blink, Jinx was caught up in a blast of wind and an impression of black.

Then she was falling. Only when falling did she realize she hadn't been standing, (she had in fact been held, carried actually). An almost invisibly fast turning had her fall transform into a lowering, but she still managed to land on her knees as the rush of adrenaline and stabilization of sight and sound assaulted her abused senses. Blinking dazedly, Jinx locked eyes with wide, brown, surprised eyes.

"Hey Bee," said the Backpack Thief's voice from behind Jinx. "I'm done. I got a backpack."

Dark brown eyes darted from Jinx to a point behind Jinx's shoulder, and a moment of pivotal silence hung in the air. And then the explosion.

"I said pick a pocket, not steal a person!"

* * *

Prompt: Sunset


	28. Twenty Questions

**A/N 12-23-10**: Well, this is the last chapter of true interaction between J&K until gee 40 something? I haven't quite written their reunion yet, but next chapter will indicate whether it will be unhappy or not. I just need to check my update schedule to see when I planned to post that chapter. Fun facts: If you look closely DTRH starts to follow the Teen Titans season schedule. Right now we're smack in the middle/near the end of Final Exam. The HIVE arc will occur during S3, so Jinx has the floor through S2. And essentially S4 is when J returns to Jump. Still not quite sure when though. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 28: Twenty Questions

"I don't know why you're so bent out of shape," Kid said. "I completed the assignment which means we all pass."

"You kidnapped someone."

"So? We're villains Bee, criminals. We don't play by the rules."

"You'll be the death of my career."

A snort. "What career? Admit it, you may be Queen Bee at the HIVE, but if your career was skyrocketing, you'd be the one in Titans Tower right now, not Seemore."

"A girl, Kid? Seriously? I thought you were a chivalrous gentleman."

"I am. Whenever I tried to take her backpack it shocked me, and she refused to give it up. So, I took her."

"Brilliant Kid. Just brilliant."

"Come on, Bee. Think. The bacpack's protected meaning there's something in there worth protecting implying value. And since Miss Brunette isn't fried to a crisp unlike my fingers, she's the only one who can give whatever is inside it to us. So, I took the whole package."

A beat.

"Quit looking at me like that, Bee."

"Kid, I never knew you had a brain under that black mask. I always figured it was just a giant black hole taking in everything but retaining nothing."

"Hey!"

"Kid, she can't stay. You get the backpack, and you get her back to Jump, safely."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You took her. She's _your_ responsibility.

Said responsibility had backed into a corner and was glaring with a full sense of warning and vehemence at her temporary keeper, a Batman lookalike wannabe. Grey skin, red eyes, black pointy horned cowl and a long black cape. The masked wonder seemed just as _intrigued_ by her presence as she was of his. He stared at Jinx as if she was a piece to the puzzle of his life that he hadn't realized existed and had no idea how it was supposed to fit. Every now and again his gaze would shift from her face to a spot behind her, to her backpack.

Cassandra's warning rolled through Jinx's head. No one must know who you are, not your face or your name. You must hide your powers, your skills, and your abilities.

Which left her as a damsel in distress. She'd been bluffing earlier with the speedster. While she was friends with Robin of the Teen Titans, he didn't know she was in Jump. And her mentor was an entire country away which was a problem for kidnapped civilians with a magical arsenal on their backs which they could not use. To use would leave a lasting impression and lingering questions about who she was, and where she came from, and how did she get a hold of those artifacts and other such questions that she must avoid. But the speedster _had_ to want her backpack and _had_ to kidnap her.

Why?

"So, may I have that backpack now?"

Jinx flinched at the sudden sense of a presence behind her. He was worse than Robin, and just like how she dealt with Robin when he snuck up on her, Jinx spun around and punched her kidnapper in the face. Or at least, she'd aimed for his face, but Kid, or so that girl with the wings had called him, had already moved out of the way like it was the easiest thing in the world.

So, of course without any further thought, Jinx followed through with a second punch. Dancing along seamlessly, Kid dodged again and a third time and laughed then ducked down to avoid a kick. "Feisty arentcha?"

Then he was in front of her, grabbing and immobilizing her wrists and using her overextended fists to upset her center of gravity and send her stumbling forwards. "You know, I want your backpack, but for now I'll settle for a name."

Regaining her footing, Jinx retreated out of the Kid's immediate range. One hand rose up to tug reassuringly on the strap of her backpack while her eyes swept the room. Batkid was gone.

"You tell me yours; I'll tell you mine," she countered, and she let her body fall into a more relaxed stance. Feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed beneath her chest and a frown firmly planted in her face, she pouted.

Kid tilted his head back and laughed, but it wasn't a mocking laugh. The laugh was more of an amused laugh a cross between delight and amusement. If Jinx didn't know that he wanted her backpack—no, that he needed her backpack for some nefarious purpose—, and if she'd been ignorant of his superspeed that laugh would have her convinced that he was the nonthreatening one.

_But he's not, and you're not._

"That would be a problem," he finally replied to her verbal challenge, white eyes spots crinkling with his smile, "because I don't have a name."

"Everyone has a name," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"So what's yours?" he countered smiling in what he thought must be a charming way. In response Jinx arched her eyebrows and remained mum.

"Why do you want my backpack so badly?" she asked once they had stared quietly at each other for a full three minutes.

"It's a key instrument in my plan to take over the world," he stated solemnly. The effect was ruined with his bark of laughter and the huge smile that appeared on his face. Fighting down a hearty case of chuckles he finally came clean. "It's for school, an exam actually."

"What kind of school encourages its students to dress up like clowns and kidnap people?" Jinx retorted.

"You've never been to Jump before have you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Jinx snarked.

"Well, when you haven't heard about the HIVE, yeah; plus, you're carrying a super heavy backpack and are wearing traveling clothes. You're practically screaming I'm a tourist, rob me."

Jinx shrugged while mentally reminding herself to fit in more and stand out less. Smoke and mirrors only went so far after all. Maybe next time Zatanna could enchant a purse to connect to a pocket dimension where Jinx could stash all her stuff.

"So," she drawled. "The HIVE is…?"

"The Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young People."

Jinx connected the mental clues and subtle dots. "So, a school for supervillains, and the Titans and police haven't shut you down because…?"

A smug grin on his face accompanied with a shrug told the entire story. "The Titans are new, and the police can't keep up, So," and a sly smile which made Jinx's stomach drop appeared on Kid's face. Within a blink of the eye he went from being across the room to two feet away. "What's your power?"

"What power?" Jinx monotoned in her best Batman approved blasé attitude.

Wiggling his finger under her nose in a mock scolding manner Kid elaborated. "I have to admit disguising a power inhibitor as a piece of jewelry is quite cunning, but power inhibitors are still to clunky of a technology to hide in plain sight. So what power of yours is so bad that you need it suppressed in public?"

After a beat of stony silence he spoke again in a more placating manner. "Look, I'm not here to judge. I'm just curious. You're secret is safe with me."

Rolling her eyes, Jinx let out a gusty sigh tired of the power of the wills she was engaged in. "I don't have any secrets," she said. Lie. "At least none that concern you." Truth.

"Actually, I disagree," Kid replied immediately jumping on the ball. "Your backpack is a secret, and it is the basis on my passing or failing one of my classes." And a gust of air brushing the side of Jinx's face coupled with the nagging sense of a person behind her (plus the disappearance of the Kid in front of her) alerted her to his now intense study of her backpack.

"What could be so important that you had to install your own taser into a backpack?" he wondered being extremely careful to keep a safe distance between himself and the backpack. And then he zipped back to his previous position.

"What is this, twenty questions?" Jinx snapped. She wondered if she willed it hard enough would the ceiling collapse onto him despite her suppressed powers. "Now what do I have to do to get you off my back and back in Jump?"

A cheeky grin and an outstretched hand was her response. In turn Jinx glowered back, and if looks could kill, Kid would've been a dead man.

* * *

Prompt: Death


	29. Parting

**A/N 12-25-10:** I'll keep this simple. Here's a Christmas present. Next update on Thursday. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

* * *

Chapter 29: Parting

Negotiations for Jinx's return to Jump proceeded quickly before the pair settled on a compromise. Jinx could keep her backpack but in exchange had to give Kid an item of value from it as her ticket home. The arrangement seemed simple enough. Kid got his "stolen" item for his class, and Jinx got to keep the infernal backpack with all its voltage powers and most of its contents inside.

The problem, Jinx reflected as she looked at the then rectangular, wood box held in her hand, lay that of all the items in her possession only one was harmless enough to give to an aspiring supervillain without the world falling under his reign of terror. And that one item happened to have the most emotional value for Jinx. With steeled nerves and emotion choking her throat, Jinx handed over the box and started as two arms picked her up and a gust of wind exploded in her face. And then she was back in front of the storefront from before, alone.

Inhaling a shaky breath, Jinx turned her thoughts toward the Tower in the bay, pushed aside the lump in her throat, and the burn in her eyes stubbornly hoping that is she didn't think about what she'd just done and focused instead on what's ahead and her adventure then she would not..

The strange sensation of an object beneath her shoe paused Jinx mid-step. Hesitantly, she took a step backward, and the sight beneath her shoe freed the floodgates, and Jinx glared angrily at the yellow primrose crumpled on the cement, regulating her breathing and ignoring the wet drops falling to the ground on the rose petals.

"I'll get you back," she promised solemnly. Even if she had to track down, outwit, and out power the cheeky speedster himself. But for now a step forward and a step away from the past. Squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin, she stepped over the rose and down the road toward the bay. Jinx's imminent arrival at Titan's tower was met with chaos, and exclamations of questions for her identity, and why she had the emotional resemblance to a kicked puppy.

An adventure, a tower, and a rose.

Back at HIVE his mask hanging limply off the back of his neck, Kid admired with aesthetic pleasure the golden chain dangling from his fingers. It had seemed fitting at the time, he reflected sprawled in his chamber on his bunk, to exchange a rose for a rose.

But nagging questions fueled his curiosity. Who was she, the girl with the voltage charged backpack? The girl of the rose necklace, and of all the things hidden inside that fiercely protected backpack, which had kept out the fastest boy alive, why did she give up the gold chain with the budding rose amulet dangling from it?

Black clad fingers gently ran over the petals of the rose, but their ministrations ceased when the rose glowed with a golden light and a female voice spoke.

"To my new apprentice. May you emerge from the shadows of your past and strive boldly into the light. May you bloom as beautifully as the rose upon which has been given to you."

* * *

Prompt: Puppy


	30. Hello

Chapter 30: Hello

To say the aftermath of the HIVE's invasion of Titan's Tower was pretty would be a lie. Cds lay strewn across the Common room, cases cracked, and a bonfire had been discovered on the roof where effigies of the Titans along with most if not all of their spare uniforms had been piled for fuel; unholy shrieks and reverberating yells of fury had already sounded off multiple times from different locations in the tower as the Titans had found the rest of the HIVE's handiwork. Now all had gathered in the Common Room each with their complaints but all united in their cleanup efforts.

Cyborg had disappeared from the waist up underneath the counsels beneath the TV muttering viciously about spyware, bugs, Trojan horses, and his tower being invaded by, well, sneaky, illegitimate descendents of female dogs (or so Beast boy cheerfully translated for Starfire's sake when she asked for the meaning of Friend Cyborg's unknown slang). At Starfire's exclamation of "But Friend Cyborg, those do not sound like nice things at all," the muttering lowered in volume to indiscernible murmurs of what could have only been binary.

"Uh, Star, that's kind of the point," Beast Boy informed.

Sighing, Star flew back upwards to the giant windows overlooking the bay washcloth and glass cleaner in hand as she scrubbed vigorously at the dried blue spatters of food which had once resided in the fridge. "Your earth customs confuse me. On Tamaran If one was displeased with another's conduct we'd battle gloriously until one prevails over the other in such disputes. Not continue this bad speaking of the other especially after one has triumphed over the aggressor."

Below her dark energy picked up toppled pieces of furniture, righted them, and transferred them back to their proper places around the room. In bloodhound mode Beast Boy and Robin crisscrossed the room tracking the internal movements of the HIVE until Cyborg deemed the Titans' computer network secure. So wrapped up were the Titan's that they failed to notice their visitor.

"Wow, what calamity occurred here?"

Five Titans swerved simultaneously on the spot brandishing, respectively, starbolts, birdarangs, black energy, claws, and sonic cannon.

"Hold your fire," the intruder said taking a few steps backward and easing herself out from underneath the levitating couch. "Easy Shortpants. It's me."

Robin backed down first, the birdarang disappearing back into whatever pocket of his utility belt he'd pulled it from. "Jinx?" he asked. At his signal the rest of the Titans stood down (and in Beast Boy's case sat) and observed the brown-haired teen girl with wary fixation. "I thought you weren't allowed outside."

A broad smile spread across Jinx's face. "And I have a temporary reprieve as long as I remain incognito. Which reminds me, speak of this ever again and die."

Repressing an eye roll, Robin translated for the sake of team. "Cy, we secure?"

"Yeah, bug free."

"Right," Gesturing to Jinx, Robin said. "She was never here. She doesn't exist. We never speak of this again."

"Ugh, dude, why?" Beast Boy asked.

"The entire space time continuum will unwind and implode, apparently," Jinx deadpanned. At the looks of incredulity shot her way she raised her hand in a defensive manner. "Or so I've been told. Anyway, I have time to kill and decided to meet the illustrious Titans. Robin speaks highly of you. So, I heard you guys were invaded?"

* * *

Prompt: Seated


	31. Communication

Chapter 31: Communication

Cleanup continued in the Titans Tower minus two individuals. Cyborg and Raven quietly exchanged sidelong glances at Starfire's wistful gazing toward the ceiling before she returned to her cleaning duties on foot with a sleight droop to her shoulders.

The old friends had retreated to the roof. It was nice up here, Jinx reflected, underneath the steel beams, remnants of the HIVE's takeover. The roar of the ocean waves, basking in the sun, and the cool sea breeze coiling around her face and twisting elf knots into her ponytail. She understood a little better now why Robin had left Gotham. To leave behind darkness and shadow for warmth and sunshine, and the freedom…no mentor hovering over her shoulder analyzing every nuance of her spell execution and form. No matter how large or small the diameter a sinkhole is still a sinkhole after all. Free to come and go as she pleased.

This was…nice.

"I see why you like it here," she muttered, eyes gazing at the endless stretch of the horizon where sky kissed the blue ocean with the sun crowning the portrait. "Going to the Batcave to harass Batman just isn't as fun without you there. Alfred's a good sport though," she amended.

Sitting adjacent to her and cross-legged Robin shrugged. "It's…different. Jump isn't Gotham."

"And your team's different too. Nice variety in personalities. Batgirl officially hates you." She added. Robin maintained his reticence, but Jinx smirked at the faint blush ghosting his cheeks.

"I do too." That snapped him out of his silence.

"What?" he sounded more shocked then offended, she noted.

"Duh, or well, I did. You're, like, my only contact with the outside world that's my age, and then you abandon me to move across the country to a place I can't visit or contact." She slugged his arm. "I've missed you and have been very ticked. You never call. You never write. It makes me question our friendship."

"Jinx,"

"I mean, who else am I going to beat up and hex into oblivion? Zachary? He has a traveling tour now."

"Jinx, I'm sorry, but this,"

"Is just something you just had to do," Jinx finished, deflating. "Yeah, I get it. I understand. You're growing."

"Jinx, just because I'm growing up doesn't mean we aren't still friends."

Jinx smiled cheshiresly at the hand he put on her arm. "You might want to be careful there, Shortpants. A certain red-haired alien might get the wrong message."

At the flushing of his face Jinx crowed in triumph. "I knew it! You _like_ her. Wait 'till I tell Babs and Alfred. Batman's going to have kittens…"

"Jinx!" Who knew the Boy Wonder could actually sound mortified.

"Ok, ok, chill. Mum's the word. Promise." With an absent glance at her hand, Jinx's cat ate the canary smile faded. "Oh.

"My, uh, borrowed loophole time I told you about," Robin nodded. She'd briefed him on the circumstances and conditions of her outing. "Yeah, it's almost over. Back to Shadowcrest for the next two years."

"Two years isn't that long," Robin said in an attempt of consolation. "It'll be over before you know it."

"Seems like an eternity," Jinx huffed but then waxed thoughtful. "But then again, after four, two years isn't so bad."

The two lapsed into silence. A comfortable one of two friends just sharing a moment. Jinx perked up at a tingling at the base of her throat. "That's me," she muttered and turned to face Robin. "I should warn you. Zatanna placed a cloaking spell on me. A kind of forget me spell. Everyone's memory of me, except for "important people", will get kind of fuzzy and slippery, so your team probably won't remember this encounter."

At the dark look on his face, because despite his protests to others, Robin felt the same way about magic that his mentor did, not enthusiastically (something about breaking the laws of physics and playing God) especially mind altering magic, Jinx deliberately added, "They won't remember the Shortpants comment."

A beat.

"You're forgiven."

Jinx smiled and enjoyed her last moment of freedom before the choker around her neck expanded causing her to fade away, slipping between places until she disappeared from Titans Tower to reappear sitting on her bed in Shadowcrest.

Across Jump City magic danced from mind to machine, fading and erasing all traces of Jinx's image except from the minds of those important people. One gazed out at sea from the roof of Titans Tower. Deep in the heart of HIVE the other stared at a golden rose.

* * *

Prompt: Crown


	32. Resolve

**A/N 12-30-10:** From here on out the tone changes in DTRH. We're about to enter darker waters friends, be brave and keep your spirit. We are headed toward a happy ending.

* * *

Chapter 32: Resolve

Many would assume that Jinx's escape into the real world and brief reunion with her old friend would have a depressing effect, but quite to the contrary. By Jinx's sixteenth year things were looking up.

Robin, apparently, had taken their conversation on the roof to heart ("I promise you, I said _nothing_ to Babs about your weakness for redheads! Alfred on the other hand…") and had started up a correspondence via email with Jinx as if to apologize for his "abandoning" her. And Jinx became something of a Teen Titans fanatic, surfing the net, salivating over newspaper articles Zach smuggled in just for her, increasing her attempts at mastering scrying with little success, and just trying to keep a pulse on the happenings with her oldest friend.

And Robin seemed content to tell her about how the Team's dynamics were improving and relating interesting trivia to amuse Jinx. How Tamaraneans had a Poem of Gratitude with 6,000 verses, and his idea of turning the entire poem into a massive computer virus to fry any and all computers if only he had the courage to ask Starfire to transcribe it for him (or use as a torture device, Jinx had suggested once Starfire's singing had been described. Completely ethical, she insisted. They're just listening to music). But increasingly over the last half of her fifteenth year Jump City and Robin's emails were darkened with increasing references of Slade.

Who is Slade?

When Jinx had dared to approach Cassandra with the question (out of worry for her friend Robin's health, as Starfire would say, and seeking to alleviate the desolate feeling of utter helplessness haunting her) the seer's cold reaction surprised.

"There are many things I can and do see Jinx that I will tell you, but this is not one of those things. Do not ask me about this matter again."

So Jinx worried, and Zatanna forbid her from scrying after she shattered Maria's bowl of chicken noodle soup during dinner with one of her latest attempts. Throwing off the lingering darkness, Jinx immersed herself in all things Titans. Clorbag varblenelk, Mumbo Jumbo, Doctor Light.

She personally nearly died when Robin grudgingly paraphrased his time as a puppet. The only response she could manage was a quick ROTFL before said reaction incapacitated her for the next ten minutes (sending a concerned Zach checking in to see if she was in fact dying). She made a mental note to invest a portion of her studies in hypnotism.

One day, the email updates from Robin ceased, so Jinx clicked curiously on the email which subject read URGENT. She opened it to find Robin gone, and the Titans looking for him. Cyborg contacted her through this link because he knew Robin emailed a friend from Gotham occasionally (Shortpants was losing his touch), and while it hadn't been easy decrypting the connection, he had reached her to ask if she had seen or heard from Robin.

No, she typed. No, she hadn't.

She'd been in the Batcave the day the breaking news footage of the Titans and the break in at the Jump City Wayne Industries premiered. She'd seen the entire video sequence. The fight. The thief. Batman and Alfred's expressions. A reflection of her sheer horror on the screens as a long ignored premonition played out.

Out of some of the most influential, pivotal points in her life (losing her parents, finding Zatanna, meeting Robin) this one instant changed something deep inside her as she saw her best friend and secret hero go to the darkside. A new resolve came on. And even later when the happy news of the manipulation, and Robin's successful gambit with Slade winning his freedom coming to light and easing the minds in the Zatara and Bat families, Jinx resolved to never betray her friends and principles if only to spare someone else the horror and pain such a betrayal brought.

In the short time that it looked like Robin had dove off the deep end, all Jinx could think had been: He was one us.

_I will never betray my friends._

_I will never betray my family._

* * *

Prompt: helpless


	33. Spoilers

**A/N 1-3-11: **Of all my supporting characters I created (2 total I believe) I quite like Cassandra. After this one more chapter with Jinx and then KF will have his exclusive. Such a sad story there. Regardless I am carefully writing Jinx's reintroduction to Jump City. I'd hate to have all this success and then suddenly find I've created a Mary Sue. Caution I will heed.**  
**

* * *

Chapter 33: Spoilers

Ever since the beginning of her sixteenth year, it had been no secret in the Shadowcrest household that Jinx was impatiently waiting for the future. The mental chant rang tangibly through the halls_. One more year. One more year. Just twelve more months!_

Yes, Jinx anxiously yearned for the future to come. So it was no surprise one day that she ambushed a visiting Cassandra in the library with the question, "Can people time travel?"

Closing her book Cassandra levelly met Jinx's eyes. "I believe you already know the answer to that question, Jinx."

Which was true. Jinx, from a good source, had been informed of the possibilities of time travel and its effects. "But I'm asking you," she wheedled. "You're the expert at seeing the future, and the consequences of people's actions."

Brown eyes descended back to her book, opening it once again. "While the technology does not yet currently exist, yes, one day in the far future time travel will be possible."

Jinx mulled over this piece of information for a bit. Cassandra's words affirmed Robin's latest email of the Titans latest adventures which had included a time traveling thief named Warp. While he didn't go into too much detail, he had mentioned that Starfire had attacked Warp just as he was leaving the present, catapulting the pair twenty years into the future. During her trip in the future Starfire had run into the future versions of both the Titans and, to the alien girl's surprise, Jinx.

Apparently, Jinx's future self had been visiting Friend Nightwing (Jinx had arched an eyebrow at that quote in the email) from Keystone City and had left shortly before Nightwing and Starfire confronted Warp, stating an impatient friend was waiting her arrival back at Keystone.

And of course, Starfire's future Titans sent her back home to the original timeline to her current friends' relief. Robin had spent the last half of the email dwelling on his future self, the enigmatic Nightwing (whom future Jinx had been visiting in an attempt to keep him from turning into a "crazed loner"; at this Jinx smiled. That did sound like her) before deviating to other topics including a green alien dog, and a new friend the Titans had made, a wandering girl named Terra, along with the Titan's latest run in with Slade.

Happily ignored, Cassandra continued her reading until Jinx reemerged from her ruminations.

"So in the future we'll have the technology to time travel," Jinx mused aloud. "But I wonder…is it possible to travel through time without the help of technology?"

Curious pink eyes turned inquisitively to Cassandra. The redhead sighed, mentally marked her page, and then gave her full attention to the teen before her.

"That," she answered evenly, "would be spoilers. But this I will tell you. There's a saying in my family which deals with the nature of time. One cannot change the past, but one can change the future."

* * *

Prompt: Ignored


	34. Foreshadowing

**A/N 1-6-11**: Ok, if no one understands the purpose of this chapter then I fail as I writer and should seriously consider the future of dtrh. This was a hard chapter to write, a necessary one indeed, but hard. After this chapter we won't see Jinx for a while. KF will grab the spotlight come Monday, and I shall return to college between now and then. Thoughtful reading to you all.

* * *

Chapter 34: Foreshadowing

At one point during her sixteenth year, Jinx caught a glimpse of the future, and not just anyone's future, but hers. The exercise had started off as a standard scrying lesson only this time around Cassandra had dropped in to help ease Jinx over the speed bumps of accessing the Sight. Only things hadn't gone as planned.

During the Zatanna approved lesson, Jinx had sought out Jump City and the Titans in part curiosity and also in part concern for a friend. In his last email, Robin had mentioned a contest known as the Tournament of Heroes and a new addition to the Titans. Curious, Jinx had sought out the Tower to ascertain her best friend's wellbeing, and to catch a glimpse of the new recruit, Terra, and then things went awry.

One minute she was sizing up the geomancer, and the next she'd been thrust forward into a golden light, and then, the images. Visions, pictures, short snapshots of pieces of life and reality which hadn't yet come to be but would. Snatches and pieces of conversation, short movie clips, all assaulted her mind.

"Do you trust me?"

"The girl you know was merely an illusion. A fantasy."

"You don't have any friends."

"Traitor."

"Witch."

"I don't need saving!"

"No more chances. No more trust. And no more mercy. She's just another criminal."

"You were the best friend I ever had."

"A world without Titans."

"You attempted to annihilate us! Did you think we wouldn't take it personally?"

The visions and pictures responding to her every whim and flight of fancy and every nuance of her thoughts ripped through her mind. Thoughts that when they saw the fate of her friend flew to her own fate. What would she be without Robin, without her friend?

And somehow even as deeply submerged in the stream of time possessing her mind, she plunged deeper. Fleeting impressions as she saw everything, every time, every possibility, and her brain overloaded. Red, yellow, black, white lightning bolt. Rogue, fire, pain, Time, light, and so much pain as if the very spark of magic within her that fueled her powers was on the precipice of being snuffed out. Bad luck, hex.

"I cast a hex on you," she would hiss to the object of her ire, hate dancing in her heart.

Unfair, not right, not _him_. How, machine, Time, present, future, past. A bridge, explosions, and her sister's frantic voice.

And she screamed. Across space and time Jinx screamed in unison and sent and heard the echoes of her scream of pure agony.

And then Zatanna was there, a gentle voice soothing her tortured mind while Cassandra cut the link between Time and the young sorceress cursed with bad luck.

"It's too soon. She can't know yet. She'll go insane."

And then it became less than a memory as Zatanna reached in with her magic and scattered the years Jinx had consumed in a mere second. Connections, knowledge, the memory of the Event, all offensive memories severed and repressed.

Some pieces of the lesson Jinx would never remember, permanently banished from her mind. Others she would unlock in due time, but when she awoke, head aching and memory fuzzy, Jinx thoroughly agreed with Cassandra's earliest assessment and warning.

Don't mess with time. It'll fry your brains.

So she continued forward through her sixteenth year with only these words about the scrying incident from Zatana. She would not remember what she saw. She must not remember what she saw. Not now, not yet. She must live it first.

* * *

Prompt: Unfair


	35. Changes

**A/N 1-9-11**: Well...on with the HIVE arc. Hello Season 3.

* * *

Chapter 35: Changes

In the HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People there had always been one three man cell that shone above the rest of the student body, one trio that had been rewarded with early graduation and a shot at the Big Leagues, See-more's cell. Although the pairing of See-more, Mammoth, and Gizmo were an odd pairing, leader, brawn, and brains, See-more commanded his cell with a ruthless drive to excel. In the HIVE's last yearbook before the team's fall from grace, See-more had been voted Most Likely to Rule the World and Keep it.

Until the unfortunate final exam which had tarnished See-more's undefeated streak his team had been the example, the "Why can't you act more like See-more's squad?" And if See-more's squad was once considered the best, then Bumblebee's was…hopeless.

Much pity and fake sympathy had been given to the determined gal once the Headmistress had assigned her the most motley cell ever, Kyd Wykkyd and the Nameless Wonder (As in: I wonder how he got this far, or I wonder how he got his scholarship, or I wonder how he has kept his scholarship). But things had changed and dynamics had shifted once power shifted at the HIVE. One day the Headmistress had simply no longer been there, and in her place rose Brother Blood, who began to take a more personal interest in the student body.

It seemed the week after Blood arrived was the week Bumblebee's team began to rise in both power and prominence.

The cell functioned as a team together, and No Name actually managed to earn the right to his own personalized uniform and supervillian name. But the speedster didn't do much with the new privileges. He kept the old uniform, same black one piece jumpsuit with black boots and mask except for one new addition, a white lightning bolt centered in the middle of his chest. As for his name No Name kept it simple. Kid. The Kid.

But even with Bumble Bee's cell's new rise in power, and Brother Blood's position as headmaster some things failed to change in HIVE. See-more's team was still the envy of the HIVE and example for all to model.

And then Stone infiltrated into the HIVE.

* * *

Prompt: Hopeless


	36. Welcome

**A/N 1-13-11:** I should probably get this out of the way now. Since KF has been transposed into a villainous life in a parallel manner to Jinx from the show, there have been questions on whether there will be a Stone/KF pairing to parallel to Stone/Jinx pairing. My response: I write cannon or implied cannon pairings (hence the KF/J match-up for the story); therefore, there is a greater probability of me writing a Cyborg/Jinx pairing then a Stone/KF, and even greater then those two pairings coming into play is the KF/J pairing. In sum any relationship between KF and Stone will be a platonic, manly friendship thing. Thanks for tuning in.

* * *

Chapter 36: Welcome

Welcomes at the HIVE were notoriously cold, Stone soon learned. All day he'd been the object of cold stares, and all day a building current of anticipation seemed to be wrapped around his arrival and some as of yet unwritten verdict by the HIVE's top dogs, See-more and Co. Now walking down the halls en-route to his dorm room, Cyborg allowed himself a smug smile. The top dogs had been taken down, again, courtesy of his holographic masked hands. In the end lunch had been a sweet revenge against the trio. Right at the point where Cyborg began to descend into replaying his triumphant power play he was snapped out of his ruminations by the sound of his alias ringing through the hall.

"Stone!"

Turning Cyborg assessed the situation, and his caller, one of the HIVE students with the build of a runner clad from head to toe in black with the exception of a white lightning bolt in the middle of his chest.

"Yo," he replied, tone naturally guarded as he eyed his atypically cheerful greeter closing the distance between them.

"Name's Kid," the runner said, a smile quirking at the corner of his mouth as he reached out and pumped Stone's unoffered hand enthusiastically. At Stone's crooked eyebrow and guarded look, Kid chuckled. "Don't worry I come in peace."

"Really because the impression I got was that the HIVE was quite exclusive in its student body," Stone replied.

"It is," Kid agreed, "It's a dog eat dog world here, so all outsiders are viewed with suspicion until accepted into the folds or disapproval has been marked by the upper echelon."

"Upper echelon," Stone echoed.

"See-more," Kid said and proceeded to elaborate. "Which is why I'm here. See-more doesn't like being shown up and has shown only shown one way of handling competition, elimination."

Cyborg shifted his suspicions of the villain in front of him being a bit too friendly, especially by HIVE standards which quickly turned into suspicions of a ploy. "Which is why _you're_ here. Well, you can go tell See-more that I don't scare easy, and if he has a problem than he can talk to me face to face."

Kid, if possible, brightened even further, "Glad to hear it, but that's not why I'm here. I ran by to see if you'd be interested in an alliance."

"An alliance…?"

If Kid noticed Stone's skepticism he didn't show it; he forged right on ahead. "I'm a member of a cell rising in power. We can more than hold our own against See-more and his crew, but if you joined us we could rise up through the ranks of the school like that," he said with a snap for emphasis. "We look after our own. If See-more decided to retaliate we'd stand with you."

"Strength in numbers," Stone summarized. "Thanks Kid, but I'll pass. I work alone these days."

Kid shrugged. "If you say so. The offer still stands, and even if you don't want to join up, if you need anyone to hang out with or help psychoanalyzing the teacher's thought processes, I'm your man."

"Thanks Kid."

Conversation closed, Kid looked down the hall and did a double take. "Well, I don't believe it." Smiling heartily, he clapped Stone across the shoulders. "Hang in there Big Guy, HIVE isn't done with you yet. Later."

And he left in a black blur leaving Stone staring after him bemused.

Of course, shortly after See-more himself appeared followed up by his entourage with the most shocking offer, one after his conversation with Kid, Cyborg accepted, and somehow, he survived the initiation. But even after Cyborg infiltrated the team at HIVE academy and even post exit, he'd think back at how sometimes there was indeed honor among a den of thieves.

* * *

Prompt: Den


	37. Query

**A/N 1-15-11:** Updating just because. Thanks for all the new reviewers and the loyal readers engaging in this fanciful tale of mine. I love my reviewers, all of them. They review, and reviews make me feel warm, fuzzy, and appreciated, but the two word reviews are maddening. Succinct and to the point I will give that credit, but maddening. I love being told that you guys love my story, but I also like reviews that give constructive criticism; things for me to think over and perhaps add changes to a new chapter like Stone's reasoning for teaming up with See-more not Kid.

If I took a card from the blunt deck and decided to use that as a chapter I wonder what the responses would be like. (I have a word document for review ranting. Example: It's a Hamlet. They all die. (or in two words) Everybody dies). Well, enough whims. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 37: Query

Life was not fair. A simple and accurate statement, and at the HIVE life was not flowers and rainbows and fuzzy pink clouds. Life was combat practice, heists, encryption, the study of past and present notable criminal enterprises and masterminds, and research on the "pitsniffin' crudmunchin' do-gooders" (quote Gizmo). Life consisted of impressing their instructors, excelling in class, and for Cyborg trying to blend in until the perfect time to hack into the HIVE's computer databases.

Part of the plan for blending in was to, ironically, stand out. In order to pass completely under the HIVE radar, Stone needed to be seen as unquestionably loyal and remain in the good graces of the student body, hence Cyborg allying with See-more, Mammoth, and Gizmo. Only one hour in and Cyborg had clearly seen that the trio ruled the school, so Stone accepting the unprecedented offer of alliance with the golden group of the HIVE took priority over making friends. Social standing aside, Stone had decided to hold Kid to his word, so one day Stone took up Kid's offer of assistance in psychoanalysis.

"So, I thought the HIVE was run by a Headmistress?" he asked one day when the students unusual deference to the Headmaster had seeded a thought. He had cornered Kid after classes one day-not that they shared any- and Kid had invited him to the HIVE's exercise center.

"We did," Kid answered merrily, a certain feat to behold since he'd been sprinting on a treadmill for the past half hour. "She moved on to bigger and badder things though when Brother Blood came knockin'."

Beside him Stone started his cool down. "Really, I thought she resigned."

"I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but that's what he wants you to think. The real story is a lot shadier then the official one."

"So, what's Blood like?"

"He wants to teach kids how to become criminals that will kick good-guy butt. He's a teacher and a leader," and his face grew darker. "He's a very persuasive guy."

"Sounds like you don't like him," Cyborg said the fact striking an unusual chord. No matter how weird Blood was, no one at HIVE disliked the man.

Kid didn't argue. "Let's just say once Blood and I met he upped the requirements for scholarship students, to my displeasure. I have a lot more hoops to jump through in order to keep my scholarship.

"And…" Cyborg prompted sensing something more to the story.

"I've never hated anyone until I met the Headmaster."

Silence.

"What kind of hoops?" Cyborg asked Kid, who from all he'd observed, never did grim or moody. Even subdued Kid had a natural upbeat personality that rarely allowed a serious side to exist. Said upbeat personality began shining through the clouds allowing a mischievous quality to return to the runner.

"Wanna see?"

* * *

Prompt: Flowers


	38. Impulse

**A/N 1-17-11**: Because it only seemed fitting that KF should have some big name superhero fun also.

* * *

Chapter 38: Impulse

The reception that greeted Cyborg when he tapped on the door of one the reserved computer labs was the cold, red gaze of Kyd Wykkyd.

"Uh…," Cyborg managed as his internal computer cross-referenced Wykkyd's cold stare with Raven's don't bother me stare. It was a pretty close tie. "Kid said I could come?"

"You can let him in, Wykkyd," said Kid's voice from beyond Wykkyd's closely guarded door. "Ow! Bee, that hurts!"

"If you'd just stay still," echoed back Bumblebee's voice, and Wykkyd opened the door, stepping back to allow Stone through before firmly shutting the door behind him. Stone stepped further into the lab following the sounds of bickering.

"Kid, if you'd just…stop…squirming."

"Oh no, the last time I wore that on a mission you shocked me."

"By accident."

"That's even worse!"

"Uh, hi?" Stone ventured glancing between the two cellmates and promptly stopped to stare at shockingly red hair and freckles. Bumblebee was in her usual getup, but Kid was completely out of uniform and in civilian dress: red basketball shorts, Nike shoes, yellow aviator goggles standing in as a mask, and…

"Is that a Flash hoody?" Cyborg asked.

Indeed, it was. A red zip-up hoody with a yellow lightning bolt borne proudly on Kid's back worn over a canary yellow t-shirt. And of course Kid was grinning like a maniac for confirmation.

"Call me…Impulse," he said, proudly striking a pose.

Bumblebee whacked him upside his red head. "How about Rash," she quipped and glanced between Stone and Kid. Stone felt the room temperature drop.

"I'm supposed to blend in," Kid reminded, and he zipped over to Stone. "The hoops I was telling you about. I'm about to jump through them."

"So that explains the superhero paraphernalia?" Stone gestured at his chest.

Zipping over to one of the computer terminals Kid picked up a comm, stuck it in his ear, patted a stoic Wykkyd on the back, and returned to his place in front of Stone.

"I'll give you the Cliff Notes. Central City. Flash Appreciation Day. Twenty minute speech. One hundred wallets."

"Isn't that a bit," Stone started as his mind processed all likely scenarios involving criminal activity and those cliff notes.

"Suicidal?" Bumblebee interjected.

"I was going to go with ambitious, but crazy works too," Cyborg continued while thinking privately if Bumblebee frowned anymore she'd beat out a cactus for prickliness. "You have to do all that to keep a scholarship?" Stone murmured thoughtfully.

A window filled with folders popped up on the main screen.

"He's run sixteen successful missions to date since the Headmaster took over. He's a highly effective field agent once he commits to the mission," Bumblebee supplemented. Over from his perch manning the computers, Kyd Wykkyd gave what could have been a nod.

"And it's off to the races once more," Kid finished. "And for the record, I still hate Brother Blood."

"Glad to hear it," Bumblebee quipped, sliding in front of a panel of computer readouts. "All's right in the world. Now get out of here. You need twenty minutes to walk into town and mingle with the civilians before the speech starts."

"Roger Bee."

* * *

Prompt: Cactus


	39. The Best Laid Plans

**A/N 1-20-11**: Grr, Jinx is being difficult. Anyway in which we delve beneath the surface and mask of Kid and explore his past and how he reached the present.

* * *

Chapter 39: The Best Laid Plans…

Running.

For Kid when he ran everything just froze around him. He could literally run away and leave all his problems behind him. If only they'd stay behind him.

There were some days when Blood's ire against Kid's sloth, lack of direction and Blood's own inability to manipulate Kid's thoughts directly would manifest so ruthlessly that Kid would wish he could just start running and never stop. He was almost halfway certain that if he didn't cause a sonic boom every time he crossed, what he had dubbed, the Sound Barrier that he'd disappear entirely into the frozen world of motionless people and dead time to never reemerge.

And everyday such thoughts of his forced him to slow down, play the Let's Annoy Bee game, hang out with Wykkyd, or even tango in the How Far can I Push the Headmaster Without Making Him Snap arena. On days where time seemed to drag he'd plunge into the comic side of his nature, anything to keep him grounded. As much as he wished to never stop running he knew he had other people he could not let down, or at least not anymore than he had already.

So out came the jokes and distractions when things seemed too much. Stop and smell the roses, all that jazz, and briefly Kid wandered if maybe he should try to make someone understand his situation. Make them feel as he felt. Force them to understand by making them go through the same things. Thoughts like those were often followed by Wouldn't Blood be so proud if he knew he had inspired so much in me?

So he hated Blood, and he hated the HIVE, and the inexplicable feeling of utter wrongness. Like this wasn't right. This was not the life he'd envisioned for himself. Right now running to Central City, the home of the Flash, the thoughts couldn't cease and the sense of misplacement couldn't be clearer.

When he'd been a kid, a single digits kid, he'd adored the Flash. He had been the president his own Flash fan club with a membership of one. If he'd been a kid, a single digit kid, when he'd gotten his powers, then he would have been doing everything to be like the Flash, his hero.

But life hadn't turned out that way. He was no force for justice or good. HIVE had seen to that swooping in, manipulating, trapping, and owning him to his very soul. And ever since, the lost feeling of discontent never truly left. Sure as the years passed he had learned ignore it better, brushing it off as lost childish dreams and wishes. So he moved on.

While he hadn't completely embraced the life before him, he'd come to some sort of compromise. I'll do this but keep these principles. Except villainy took more than it gave and thoughts of his past made him wish he could just run and forget why the world was so very wrong, and make him wish he was the kind of person who could just accept the cards fate had dealt him.

He wished he could give up.

But he couldn't.

He had a Headmaster to show up and a city to surprise.

He stopped running just outside of the city limits and settled for walking the rest of the way to his target. For Flash Appreciation Day, Central City had built a museum dedicated to the Flash and his exploits over the past decade. The speech at which Kid was to pull off his hoop jumping, his grand heist, would take place at the opening ceremonies. Kid allowed himself a smile as he mingled with the citizens of Central many also wearing Flash fan garb allowing him the perfect disguise.

The poetry of his mission and the sheer irony almost equaled Kid's excitement for the challenge. He was about to steal 100 wallets in front of a museum dedicated to the Flash with the Flash in attendance. A crime that had to be pulled off underneath the Flash's very nose at regular human speed. And if he got caught, well…Kid could run pretty fast.

Slipping into the crowd seamlessly proved laughably easy. With the hoody and technicolor outfit he was just another groupie, and by HIVE standards blending in meant more than standing out, and Kid had perfected the art of blending in years ago. So he played tourist buying a corndog, just the one, to munch on while reading the embossed collector additions Flash Museum pamphlet highlighting the day's ceremonies, the displays inside, and the museum hours. He played the stunned gawker pointing at the admittedly giant Flash statue playing sentinel watching over the city and the gathering crowd.

As the crowds grew, reporters swarmed, and when, finally, the dog and pony show started, and Kid had twenty wallets all within the first five minutes as he pushed his way forward from the back of the crowd toward the center podium. On the comms he heard Stone verbally goggle as the miniature portal Wykkyd had rigged inside his hoody's pockets began spitting out the purloined objects. A genuine smile spread across his face when he heard Bumblebee's reply to Stone's "how are you doing that?"

"Look Stone. Just because Kid trusts you doesn't mean I'm going to reveal our secrets. You work for the enemy."

At Stone's spluttering, Kid decided to put him out of his misery. "I don't know Bee, See-more isn't _that_ bad."

Good old Bee. If Kid was trusting, then Bee was loyal to a fault for her team's safety and wellbeing, and Kid shuttled another 15 wallets through. At the 15 minute marker Kid was three-quarters of the way to the platform, had swiped a grand total of 95 out of 100 wallets, so he just took his leisurely time and paused for a moment beside a middle-aged father and his five-year old daughter-who, oddly, was dressed as Tinkerbelle- to simply observe.

The faces around him shone with pride, happiness, and hope. It was almost sickening. 95 hapless idiots had just been picked, and they didn't even know because they were so enraptured in the "historic moment" unfurling before them. Here where they felt safest at the celebration of their city's protector, they'd been robbed clean. What a world, one where bliss came only with ignorance, and when reality set in, well, Kid suspected a mob would form.

"Kid you have three minutes left, and the Flash is about to step up to the podium. Five more wallets boy, then mission accomplished," Bee's voice leaked into his thoughts, and at the reminder of his deadline, Kid's thoughts began to move at a speed that simply infuriated the Headmaster.

"Three minutes," he echoed.

"Two minutes and fifty-eight seconds now," Stone said his voice muffled by his distance from the microphone.

Kid managed a nod and joined in as the crowd applauded whatever the mayor had said. Goggle-covered eyes danced across the platform shifting from the mayor, to the security guards, the news crews and finally to the Scarlett Speedster himself.

"He knows what time it is, Stone," Bee snapped, and then whatever the video screen Wykkyd had hijacked must have reflected his facial expression. "Kid," she said, the promise of a painful death lurking in her words.

All Kid cared about was one simple reality. This had all been way too easy. The assignment was an insult to both his abilities and intelligence. In half a second he was on the stage, stuffing the high profile elites' personal pocket books in is hoody's pocket portal and then he was past the outskirts of Central.

Ignoring Bee's chatter he tore off the comm and tossed it over his shoulder. No more shocks for this agent.

He'd always wanted to meet the Flash.

* * *

Prompt: Tinkerbelle


	40. Awry

**A/N 1-24-11**: I believe a warning is in order. I reserve the right to update once a week if I so choose. And I may so choose (Jinx doesn't know what she wants to do with herself). Otherwise, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 40: Awry

Once the timer had hit three minutes, Bumblebee knew things would go spectacularly wrong. Of course, she had to remind Kid of his mission, and the very real time limit slipping away. And once she had reminded him of the deadline she knew she'd brought this on herself. Lazy underachiever or not, Kid hated time limits. Bee supposed if she could move at such a speed where time became irrelevant, she'd hate deadlines too, but after two years of working with Kid, she should know better. Unfortunately, she had barely processed all the implications of her words until instinct and experience took over prompting her to growl, "Kid" and he was gone, faster than a speeding bullet.

But not faster than the Flash.

For a moment Bumblebee simply inhaled, squeezed her eyes shut, pinched her lips together as hard as she could, and simply blocked out all outside disturbances. Her whole body relaxed with her sigh, then she was all leader once more.

"Alright Kid, you can get out of this if you push yourself. No clowning around." She spun around in her stool and locked eyes with Wykkyd. "Prepare Plan C."

…

To say testing his superspeed against an experienced speedster on the other side of the law on the hero's day of honor probably hadn't been the most well thought out plan Kid had ever constructed would be a bit of an understatement. Maybe even a massive understatement. In accordance with the high stakes of such a race, he didn't immediately leave Central City. Instead, once reaching the outskirts of Central, he doubled back heading into the city and with the sure certainty of who was on his tail.

Pushing himself had never been so much fun.

"Hey, Old Man," Kid called over his shoulder and grinned while kicking up the speed a notch. Behind him the Scarlett Speedster finally spoke.

"Alright kid, let's make this short."

"You know my name!" Kid crowed. "I'm touched." And because he could feel the Flash gaining on him quite easily too, Kid grinned, dug in his heels, and simply stopped in exchange to see how long it'd take the Flash to catch on. One hundredth of a nanosecond.

"What's the key of the city between friends?" Kid asked and tossed said key up in the air. Then he was off kicking up dust with the Flash on his heels.

And he ran. Zooming around town at speeds just under the Sound Barrier (because he hadn't yet managed to work around the sonic boom problem), Flash right on his tail, never letting up, never giving slack. Kid ran, dodged, evaded, threw out his best tricks, and watched. Kid dared to steal what no thief had stolen before: the Flash's knowledge for his power merely by observing.

It was the most fun he'd had in years. Running through a cafeteria, clearing out the serving staff, and then throwing mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas, green beans, fish, jello, and even salad at The Flash just because he could and if he'd been crowned King of the Food Fights back at HIVE preBlood days, well, all the better. After the side dishes and main entrees he moved on to the rolls, and then the silverware and cutlery keeping up a steady barrage the entire time. And with a grin he dashed back outside, Flash right on his heels.

He was so dead after this. But in a heartbeat he'd do it again. So even as the elation and adrenaline high pounded through his head Kid didn't fail to notice a shift in his fellow speedster's attitude. He'd seen the look many times before. The famous it's time to cut the crap and be serious look, and that meant goodbye for Kid.

So he dug in and sprinted leaving the world behind him at a standstill, pounding footsteps echoing behind him.

"Wykkyd, go!" he shouted and skidded to a halt inside the Flash museum at a conveniently empty display. In the next millionth of a second he was hogtied and staring up at the face of one very unhappy Scarlet Speedster.

"Who are you?"

Panting, lungs straining for air, Kid grinned.

"I'm the fastest boy alive," and he happily fell through Wykkyd's expanding portal to vanish from Central and return to the HIVE.

…

The tongue lashing Bee subjected Kid to upon his return would have leveled mountains and split California from the Western US. As it stood he was verbally dressed down in front of Wykkyd and Stone-that in itself proved humbling- but soon all at HIVE returned to normal, well relatively normal. See-more's decision to recruit Stone had the quartet climbing into Blood's favorites list and ended the casual friendship burgeoning between Kid and Stone.

Scholarship requirements met once again, Kid withdrew back within his team's ranks following Bee's order to lay low. A punk teen didn't steal the Mayor's wallet, the key to the city, and run around Central City at speeds almost matching the Flash without grabbing attention, a lot of unwanted attention. Blood personally pulled their team from the active assignment list.

All passed as usual for the HIVE until the Titans broke in. Half the school had ringed the arena behind carefully placed one-way mirrors and smirked as Blood dispatched See-more and his four man team against the intruders. All who watched waited with anticipation for the Titan's miserable and final defeat. Out of his team only Bee and Kid watched the fight below. Both watched the fight go horribly, horribly wrong.

Stone. Cyborg. Traitor.

And as the ceiling groaned and explosions rocked the school, Kid ran. Bee had minimized and hunkered down behind the shell of his ear clinging to his hair for support as they fled the collapsing Academy. The mad vision of their school exploding never really left the pair.

The day Stone was revealed was the day Kid saw a light change in Bee's eyes. What exactly had changed he had yet to place his finger on, but as the mental call went out, and the student body regrouped, Kid resigned himself to be drawn back into the institution that had taken over his life five years ago. The HIVE owned his heart and soul after all.

Escape, that was merely a fairy tale.

* * *

Prompt: Vision


	41. Shadows

**1-26-11:** As promised and forewarned, I won't be updating until next Thursday. Also I use some strong word choices in this chapter, but seeing as how they used appropriately and fit the context no one should be offended. Hopefully. Anyway, this is the last of the HIVE arc. Next are the transition chapters, and then Jinx turns 17. This prompt was so hard to work into the chapter without it seeming odd or out of place. Such a cheerful word for such dreary chapter. Enjoy and thanks for all the warm reviews.

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Chapter 41: Shadows

The first thing Blood does after he gathers his HIVE back under his control and deep beneath the Pacific waves is split up Kid's team. Bumblebee he pushes into independent studies, and she rises through the HIVE ranks like the rising star she always should have. Wykkyd is reassigned to work with Angel and XLterrestial, the green kid that grew into a giant and looked like he'd been born on Mars. As for Kid, well, the Stone incident had proven to Blood that he couldn't trust those he couldn't control, and the pair both knew Kid's thoughts raced at speeds too fast for Blood to pin down and sufficiently influence, so outside of class Kid spent a lot of time either locked in his dorm or in detention, more specifically, a level four containment field. House arrest, Blood called it. Precautionary measures.

It was during those drawn out eternities that the hatred Kid bore for Blood blossoms and grows shadowing his eyes. And of course during those wretched eternities while he's subject to Blood's twisted humor and electricity ravages his nervous system and assaults his sanity, he forces himself to think of something, anything to spare his mind. Hatred he learns, draws him precipitously closer to insanity's freeing and damning hold.

So for once he learns to shelve his hatred to control it, and he turns to memories. The pleasure of running through a motionless world, immune to wind and sometimes gravity when he's bold. He shied away from memories of his teammates. Those memories just raised questions, uncomfortable questions that he doesn't wish to answer or consider. Such as if they were his friends and cared for him as he had for them, then where were they? Didn't friends help their friends no matter how dark or dangerous or desperate the situation? He saw them in the hallways both bearing quiet and emotionless eyes, and he wondered if he'd ever had any real friends.

Back before HIVE, before his powers and before double digits, he'd been an awkward yet happy child and completely human, yet different. He had attended the regular amount of birthday parties, received an average amount of Valentines come February and enjoyed running up and down the soccer field with his teammates. Perfectly normal.

Life had been much simpler back then, and he noted how everyone seemed to leave in his life. His Dad had been so busy working during the week that he didn't spend a lot of time with his son. And his Mom…he tried not to think of his mother, the woman who would ruffle his red hair, wrestle him to the bath and read him chapter books before bedtime.

Instead of seeing the brilliant woman who loved singing along with the radio, waging an unceasing war against dirt and clutter, he saw her pale, thin, and wasting away. That hurt. But she was ok, provided for-he'd seen to that- and stable. He may never see his mom again, but he could live with knowing that she was alive out there.

So he tried not to think of his parents, his only family. All the halcyon days inevitably led to pondering the more present past. His father gone. His mother sick. Bitter pills those memories proved.

So he forced himself to plan pranks and vengeance. Revenge had never seemed sweet until his three hour detentions started. Some days, if he was bold, he thought of the times when his team hadn't been under Blood's thumb. Back when the HIVE had a Headmistress overseeing its future. And inevitably when he thinks of those days and running and exams and a shock from the containment field proves stronger than the norm, he remembers quite poignantly a taser disguised in the shape of a backpack, and of the Rose Girl, the girl with the magical, talking rose.

"_To my new apprentice. May you emerge from the shadows of your past and strive boldly into the light."_

If anyone's past had shadows, Kid knew his did. If he could strive boldly, then it would be toward the future, and so Kid learned how to endure. Everything has a time, and everything ends.

So on the day beneath the Pacific waters when a power inhibitor is slapped on his wrist, and Kid is dragged out of class to Hell, well, detention, he is rewarded with the knowledge that even after separation there is still something to be found in old allegiances. Bumblebee proves this for him as the electrical field vanishs after a short burst from her stingers, and she picks his inhibitor cuff. She's efficient and quick, as always, and all the while the same odd look reappears in her eyes, the look from the day the HIVE first fell, and he'd ran them to safety. Finally, he understands that look, and her motives and choice.

"You're leaving," he says, a statement. The look in her eyes is Stone's look. She was turning on the HIVE. And when she briskly commands him to head for an escape pod or drown, he laughs.

"You haven't changed a bit. Still the Queen Bee." And he watches sorrow swim through her resolute eyes as his hardened (jaded)self appears. Sorrow and pity for her inaction he assumes. Ah Bee, a secret bleeding heart. He'd always known he wasn't the only one in HIVE.

"I wish I could leave," he finishes, honest and resigned to the fact the HIVE owned his soul and so much more now.

"You still can," she says offering an unlikely and impossible future. A future where HIVE didn't rule his life, and he didn't have to continue living this life, but…

"I can't."

_Mom._

To dream of a future and a life that she offered beyond Blood and the Academy and crime, that was the true fairy tale. Freedom of a sort, parole even was more likely than a future full of heroics and glory.

Why should he fight for the greater good when destiny and fate seemed to relish in making his life a living nightmare? And maybe some of his thoughts had leaked out behind those tall walls he had recently learned how to build, for before leaving to head off, sink the HIVE, and save the day, Bee bade him farewell in a most unusual way. A hug, one desperate sign of affection, an offer of comfort, and maybe an apology for having to choose the world over helping a friend.

So it's not so surprising on the surface when the rumors finally hit him of Bee's ultimate choice and what she left the HIVE for: the Titans. Blood's gone MIA, ditching his students and leaving them on their own. And Bee's tracking him down with an aquaphiliac Titan as her new teammate.

So when See-more tracks him down and propositions him with a place on a new extension of the HIVE, Kid can only accept. After all his soul had belonged to the HIVE since he was only ten years-old, and at sixteen, the deal and arrangement had yet to change.

* * *

Prompt: Valentine


	42. Yearning

**A/N 2-3-11:** Well, I feel my loyal author's notes readers deserve an explanation. I used to have this lovely reserve of prewritten chapters. You know these chapters. You have read these chapters. The ones I keep shoving at you every Monday and Thursday. Well, now they're almost gone, so in order to preserve what remains of my stash I will be updating once a week until my confidence in my reserve has been bolstered. So updates, once a week, on Thursday for maybe the next month or so.

* * *

Chapter 42: Yearning

There were days when it seemed that Jinx should be anywhere but Shadowcrest or even Gotham. Days when she'd wish earnestly in her heart that she hadn't been cut off entirely from the world, and she'd find herself accidentally intentionally wandering the halls, down corridor after corridor until her feet led her to the library. Following her feet's beckoning, Jinx lost herself in maps and atlases, pouring over the world and tracing her heart's deepest, hidden desire west.

There were days when Kid's sense of misplacement solidified from an ache beneath his ribs to pangs in his heart. Days when his feet itched, and he'd carefully circle the globe a few times. Always carefully because he wasn't the only person out there who could move at superspeed, and he didn't want to run into them. See-more tended to keep him grounded on those days by snidely telling him to run to either the movie theater for popcorn or run through the Himalayas. On those days when his cooped up energy broke loose Kid became something of an errand boy for the HIVE 5.

Popcorn? Got it. Pizza? Done. Salted pretzels and copper wiring for the boy genius? I had these yesterday. A croissant? Here. A croissant from Paris? I said here, Smart One. The last remark tended to earn him a shock from Gizmo, but Mammoth proved surprisingly amiable as long as a steady supply of tacos remained on hand.

And the Hive paid him royalties. Which was good, a giant improvement from his scholarship probations, projects, hoops, and detentions but there were some days when running just couldn't ease the pangs, and he'd stare at the ceiling in his room and ache for a home he'd lost a long time ago.

Oh yes, there were days when home seemed stale for Jinx. If she had explored Shadowcrest once, then she had explored it a hundred times, and she knew the Wayne manor like the back of her hand. So on the days when she contemplated her future (two months, two weeks, and five days) dreaming of top hats, striped tights, and black dresses, she'd allow her spirits to soar at the thought of leaving the state for the first time in two years.

She'd already had her freedom planned out. She'd join a Zatara on tour. She was currently torn between joining Zachary's fledgling circuit or Zatanna's triumphant return. If she could get away with it-and she fully intended too-she also planned to take Gotham by storm.

But first, first she'd follow the tugging at her feet, and the subtle pull west. She had unfinished business in Jump and a best friend to ambush and reestablish her importance in his life (if only to celebrate her release into the real world).

But until those days the dissatisfaction and longing would have to wait for just a little bit longer. The time had not yet come for the future to arrive.

* * *

Prompt: Accidental


	43. Transition

Chapter 43: Transition

Once upon a Time there was a thief cursed with bad luck who had set her heart on stealing a good luck charm. On that fateful day she heard four words that marked the tide of change in her perceived jinxed life.

"Need a little luck?"

Once upon a different Time there was a thief cursed with a heavy burden who had set his heart on preserving what little remnants of his past remained, no matter what the personal cost. On a fateful day he ran into a sheltered yet powerfully protected girl with the unique power to cause others horrible bad luck, and the ability to hold and nurture grudges. In short, he offended a fledgling heroine with a vindictive streak nurtured by her mentor.

Yes, the day Kid named his Rose Girl was the day an already skewed pattern of Time rejoiced. For even though things were not progressing as they should, at least one constant could be used to help stabilize the madness that Time's twist had brought: an angry 17 year-old Jinx in Jump City.

* * *

Prompt: Pattern


	44. Gratitude

**A/N 2-17-11:** So, it's Christmas break and I start writing Jinx's triumphant return to Jump City when it hits me. Jinx can't leave without saying good bye, and once this chapter's idea hit, I brought her to Jump and another idea hit me, followed by another, and now Jinx and I are contemplating security systems, frying pans, and her heroic debut four chapters later.

About the prompt: there was none, so I improvised. It amazes sometimes what boredom can produce. I started writing dtrh because I was stuck in a car for 8 hours each day on a road trip across Texas and Colorado and needed mental stimulation beyond staring out the car window.

* * *

Chapter 44: Gratitude

Jinx's seventeenth birthday was celebrated one day early. The week leading up to the much anticipated day had been filled with a flurry of activity. Rapid email exchange had confirmed Jinx's imminent visit to Jump City, and she'd been assured by Robin that there would be a room in the Tower for her to stay in during her visit.

The party itself concluded in Shadowcrest's main kitchen and everyone in the Zatara household was in attendance. In honor of Jinx's birthday, Maria had baked a red velvet cake with homemade sour cream icing. Zachary had enchanted one of Jinx's trunks to open into a pocket dimension, and Jinx was thus able to fit the entire contents of her room into the foot locker's dimension, and even better, the entire trunk would float at her command. From Zatanna Jinx had received her own top hat.

Later as dishes were washed and general cleanup ensued, Jinx drifted throughout the halls that had both liberated and confined her for the past six years. Within these rooms she'd explored the depths and width of her magical talent. Within these walls she had found a new family, certainly not a replacement for her original bloodlines, but magical kin who had understood and guided her when everyone else had despaired. Here she had found a purpose, yet somehow she still felt slightly hollow.

"I never properly thanked you all those years ago," Jinx said as her teacher, mentor, and maybe sister drew up alongside her. "If you hadn't taken me in…who knows what I would have become. I had just lost so much all because of this," with a gesture a pink spark flared to life in her palm.

Turning Jinx locked eyes with Zatanna no longer a child or a tween but a confident, blossoming young lady. "You showed me that my powers don't rule me. You taught me that it's what I do that defines me, not my powers. I will never forget that or any of this. Thank you."

Laughing, Jinx raised a hand to find tears running down her face. Her laughter increased when she saw similar tears shining in Zatanna's blue eyes. One affectionate embrace later the pair completed the circuit of Shadowcrest to Jinx's room. Jinx cast a final glance around the room. Blank white walls greeted her investigation along with the stripped bed and open trunk laying next to the Looking Glass, especially relocated for Jinx's departure.

"I'm not going to be back here for a long time," Jinx announced and felt only faintly flummoxed when her words left a magical echo in their wake, as if all of time could agree with the assessment. First, she'd settle her unfinished business in Jump, and then she'd join Zatanna in Vegas. After that who knew what time held for Jinx.

"I think despite all odds I'm going to miss this place," Jinx said her amused bafflement causing her eyebrows to furrow and mouth to quirk.

Zatanna walked over and placed Jinx's personal top hat on her student's pink head. "But Jump City calls," she finished.

Jinx hmmed in agreement. "It's so strange. I've only ever been there once, yet it's like I'm supposed to be there."

"Then go," Zatanna replied, echoing a former conversation carried out between the pair when Jinx had first started planning for her future roaming rights. "Destiny has an uncanny knack for directing our routes into the most unlikely of places where we meet the most unusual people." Pushing down the brim of Jinx's hat over her pink eyes, Zatanna smiled at the half-hearted glare Jinx shot her. "I personally found that out about seven years ago onstage as I watched a ten year-old sorceress muster her power to bring a chandelier plummeting form the ceiling, and here I am now with the same sorceress who has striven most boldly forward and blossomed quite wonderfully. I'm proud of you Jinx."

And a mischievous glint danced into the Magician's eyes. "Now I want you to go to Jump City, and show that presumptuous speedster why he should rue the day he decided to hold up the tourist from out of town."

Jinx's devious smile curved across her face and the top-hatted sorceresses exchanged looks filled with both mischief and promise. For heroine or not Zatanna had taught Jinx a thing or two about vindictive justice.

* * *

Prompt:

Fun Fact: When I started writing DTRH I couldn't remember Zatanna's name, so I called her The Lady for the first 8 or so chapters before I found internet access.


	45. Birthday Blues

Chapter 45: Birthday Blues

"Robin!" Jinx cried with joy in heart and a smile firmly spread across her face. She slipped out of the Mirror dimension to land in the Titan's main room and beamed as she jumped the best friend she hadn't seen in two years. "It's so good to see you!" she gushed and gave him an extra squeeze for good measure. "You have no idea what the past few days have been like."

Or she would have said that if the look of shocked realization on Robin's face hadn't cut her off after 'no idea'.

"Robin," she inquired, and then she finally took in her surroundings. The entire room seemed frozen as if Control Freak had come in and pressed Pause, but a distinct tinge of magic lingered in the air. Floating in the center of the room Raven was surrounded by books and a dark circle of black energy, and it seemed Starfire and Beast Boy had been enlisted in moving mountains of book stacks for Raven's use. When Jinx looked back at Robin, he looked like he had been smacked in the face with the realization that he'd forgotten a _very_ important date.

"Jinx…," he trailed off. "Now's not a good time. Cyborg's missing."

"Can I help?" she asked mind instantly flying to a promise given long ago to her best friend before he had left Gotham; a lifetime ago, it seemed. The other half instantly flew to what tracking spells she knew, or at least the harmless spells that didn't curse the one you sought.

All thought processes screeched to a halt with Robin's firm no. Bewilderment aside, the Titan stepped forth, the leader, a Robin she'd never seen before.

"Cyborg's one of our own," Robin said with a confidence utterly alien to her. "We'll handle it."

Waving at her to follow, he briskly walked over to one of the computers lining the walls and motioned for her to place a hand on a scanner for fingerprint analysis.

"Cyborg had already entered that DNA sample you sent before he vanished," Robin explained as he navigated through security windows. "So the alarms aren't going off." He paused seemingly torn. "I would show you to your room myself, but-"

"You have a crisis on your hands," Jinx finished slowly, happy to latch onto something familiar. "Well, it's a good thing I've already memorized the Tower layout," she said lightly. "I'll just go."

His hand on her shoulder caught her mid-beckon to her luggage. "I am glad to see you. Happy Birthday Jinx."

Where the next smile came from, Jinx didn't know, but she smiled, and escaped with her floating trunk into the Tower's halls. A breath of relief escaped her lungs, and Jinx fought with everything inside herself not to slump.

It had only been two years, but her best friend… During the whole encounter she'd only seen glimpses of the Robin she once knew. The person she had just talked to…was not her best friend.

Could two years change a person that much?

She could accept that Robin had changed and grown like she knew he would, but during all this time when she'd emailed with Robin back and forth only now did she encounter a distinction she'd never before considered. Robin had said it himself. Cyborg was one of their own. For the first time Jinx truly saw that there were the Titans, and then there was her.

Somehow she had become an outsider again.

"Happy Birthday to me," Jinx blandly echoed.

* * *

Prompt: Computers


	46. Therapy

**A/N 3-3-11:** In which Jinx contemplates the changes in her life and copes. If I was updating with a vast reserve of chapters, then this would have been accompanied by ch 47, but my reserve is still low. This chapter is more of a bridge in which Jinx doesn't know what to do with herself, but since Spring Break starts tomorrow, Jinx and I have high hopes for finally writing KF back into the story, or at the very least finish setting up her revenge.

* * *

Chapter 46: Therapy

At seventeen years and one day old, Jinx had yet to emerge from the designated guest room in Titans Tower. She'd never thought that one day the word coward could be applied to her, but now it could because she was hiding. Hiding from Robin, the Titans…she was highly utilizing the I'm unpacking excuse. When asked by Robin or Starfire (surprisingly one of the more friendly Titans) if she required their assistance unpacking, she had her reply down pat. "I guess…but you might get turned into a frog by some of the protection spells" and she'd trail off thoughtfully just long enough for the offerer to back out of the room saying they'd leave her to it and check on her later.

The whole Tower must think she was an antisocial freak, Jinx mused. But…she couldn't just…waltz down there and be sociable when it felt like she was surrounded by strangers, even if one of the strangers had the face of her best friend. Sighing, she paused mid-fold and slumped until her forehead met the cool mirror before her. She didn't want to face Robin the Titan. She wanted… She felt…trapped. For the first time in six years she was freer than possible with a whole city she could explore, and she felt trapped.

But for the first time in six years she could do something about the feeling and run somewhere to escape it. Pushing off the mirror, Jinx eyed the reflective surface before her that she'd slowly been seeping her magic inside. Gauging the level, Jinx nodded in satisfaction at the mirror. There was just enough magic for the enchantment to hold without shattering the mirror as an unfortunate side effect.

She would face Robin and the rest of the Titans today, just not now. Dashing through the room from one pile of junk to the next, Jinx extricated a purse, wallet, and after a moment of contemplation, she gave into impulses forged after six years of hiding, and slipped the Ring of Illusions on her hand. Then she paused before her floor length mirror in her room and merely looked.

Large pink cat-eyes framed by golden skin stared back, and her pink hair pulled back into low pigtails just brushed the ends of her shoulder blades. Gazing down at her slightly wiry frame clad in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers Jinx nodded in approval. A perfect outfit for exploring Jump City. Satisfied, she whispered a magic word and disappeared inside the Mirror Maze.

But before she gallivanted about town at her whim Jinx checked in. Well, she more or less shot Robin a text. Despite the whole Cyborg being dragged thousands of years back into the past by a witch affair, Robin had found the time to program her cell to Titan's Tower hotline, his personal communicater. The text was short and succinct. Gone shopping.

For the past six years whenever Jinx needed clothing, gadgets or other miscellaneous essentials, a third party was always involved. The last time Jinx had gone shopping properly was before Cassandra. Cassandra's prophecy had put a damper on any outside shopping excursions.

In fact because of Jinx's isolation from the public, Zatanna had insisted that Jinx be given mandatory simulation practice in the Batcave in order to practice ordinary functions in society. Grocery shopping, clothes shopping, ordering pizza, fast food, traffic laws…remembering the mountain of homework brought back headaches.

But now, Jinx lingered in front of the glass store fronts and let the tips of her fingers trace the grass reverently. For the next hour Jinx proceeded to lose herself in shops, clothes and thoroughly blowing her birthday money.

Freedom tasted sweet, a wonderful blend of shoes, dresses, tights, necklaces, and mirrors. So many colors, so many textures, and there were even rainbows! Sparkles, all the frivolous things Zatanna had looked at, smiled, and rolled her eyes at before steering Jinx toward "classy" clothes or explaining how to use the more ostentatious frou frou as an eye-catching distraction. Jinx exited the last of the stores threes bags in each hand and the biggest grin for all to see.

She had managed to find a shopping gem in a hole in the wall shop which held mildly spelled clothing accessories. Jinx had walked out with wonderful black hair accessories (a brush and two bracelets that work as a non-chemical, gravity defying hairspray). Jinx had already bought half of her Halloween costume for the year; she could finally trick or treating properly this year. Ah yes, life was good.

And of course right when Jinx felt her hurt feelings salved with the wonders of shopping therapy and had conquered her funk was the moment when she turned onto Main Street and walked right into a stick up.

* * *

Prompt: Rainbows


	47. HIVE

**A/N 3-10-11:** I will be the first to admit that I was floundering when I first wrote this chapter and not quite sure what to do with Jinx. I knew that before J and KF could reappear, J needed to debut as a heroine and become a heroine, so while KF is in fact robbing a place, that place is not on Main Street. Secondly, I always knew that See-more would be much more a villain, prouder and more ambitious. Going off the phrase, nature abhors a vacuum, See-more developed some tough skin due to unexplained circumstances in his past as a HIVE student mainly because Jinx wasn't at HIVE. Yet in this chapter he was only capturing and ransoming civilians for weak reasons. Not very villain like.

And then came the revelation where everything went right. I blame watching Lord of the Rings documentaries and listening to The Lion King as I edited and revised this chapter. Inspiration hit. See-more was ambitious and a villain, and Jinx grew. And for those of you who were so sure KF was going to reunite with Jinx, I have started writing the reunion in ch 51, so don't despair, and I'm sorry for leading you on. Everything was hazy and indefinite for awhile, but I have seen the light.

* * *

Chapter 47: HIVE

To Jinx's greatest horror and consternation, she froze. Later she would blame the embarrassing moment on the cyclop's hypno-eye, but at the moment when she turned the corner onto Main Street, she froze as the scene washed over her with an undeniable pang of familiarity. Down the street a mammoth of a man loomed in front of a huddle of civilians with a few tossed over his shoulders like sacks of grain, and zipping around on a jet pack, tying up and immobilizing the huddle was a small boy in a green jumpsuit. She should have run or stepped forward with confidence in her step to hex the pair into submission.

Instead she froze. The moment of hesitation cost dearly. In the moment where all her rational thoughts screamed at Jinx to do something, a giant green eye invaded her vision only to be replaced with a mesmerizing swirl of black and white.

She came to, tied up with duct tape in a deserted mega-store somewhere between the kitchenware and housewares departments with the same group of hostages from the street. Her fellow hostages seemed…freaked, and if the looming black mountain in front of the group of nine hostages was the same giant from the street, then Jinx perfectly understood the groups anxious silence. They were intimidated, and if the giant was who Jinx thought he was, then even she was a bit intimidated. Raw strength wasn't an easy factor to dismiss after all. Thankfully, the brute's back was turned to the group as he seemed far more interested in his teammates antics. Jinx lurched to attention when she realized the bald midget with the jet pack was rooting through her shopping bags with a sneer of disgust on his face.

"Crud." A case of scent diffusers shattered on the ground. "Snot." The knee-high boots, her knee-high boots went sailing over Gizmo's shoulder followed closely by her scarves. "Mega crud." The hair brush. "Garbage." The ribbons. "Junk." The black ribbon choker necklace!

Each item tossed dismissively over the, the uncivilized urchin's shoulder struck a blow to Jinx's heart. She barely managed to muster the strength to stifle her gasps of horror and chokes of pain. That, that ingrate!

"Hey, See-more!" shouted the uncultured swine. "The new loot is girl crud. All we managed to grab were groceries, clothes, a few purses and wallets, and someone's birthday party decorations. This hostage scheme is a bust."

"We aren't here for the loot," sneered a new voice, and a big eye stepped into Jinx's line of vision. Eyes darting to the ground, Jinx did her best to mimic the expressions of her fellow hostages and look terrified. No one noticed individual lemmings, even pink-haired ones, as long as they all jumped off a cliff together.

"We're here to make a statement. The Titans can't protect their own city anymore, and we're proof," See-more finished, and Jinx racked her memory for any information Robin had slipped to her about the white and green costumed villain. See-more strode towards the hostages, and the group cringed as he seemed to start addressing them personally. Voice dropping into smooth sneer he said, "We're sacking the city and endangering the populace, yet the Titans are too busy at Starr Labs to come stop us. Only the police are left to negotiate for the poor, innocent bystanders' lives for a very reasonable price," A touch of hypnotism and he was looking everyone in the eye, "And if they don't pay, Mammoth brings down the entire building." A sob wrenched the air and only a cold glare halted any wretched wailing from starting, but See-more pulled away as deep chuckles that would have made any villain proud followed his scrutiny and dark satisfaction rested proudly on his face. "The era of the Titans in Jump City is ending."

A wicked grin crossed Gizmo's face. "Kid keeps the crud munchers running around and helpless, and the police either pays up or gives up. No crud munchin' Titan has ever caught Kid before."

Mammoth's, Jinx deduced, back rumbled as he added his two cents. "Which is why See-more sent him to the labs."

HIVE, Jinx concluded, and allied with…Kid. The team that had invaded Titans Tower expanded. Three formidable opponents on a power trip and no back up was coming anytime soon with at least nine civilian lives at stake.

An epiphany followed for Jinx. Zatanna had once explained the different motivations of heroes to her. Some longed for the glory, the prestige, and the rush saving lives and defeating evil brought. Others felt an innate duty or desire to bring hope to the world by fighting the powers that would crush truth and justice. Others were called. A defining moment occurred in their lives, whether it was seeing their parents brutally murdered, a revelation, a second chance, or even a lightning strike from the skies would direct their steps onto the paths of legends. Now staring her in the face, Jinx had found hers. This was the evil she would face and fight. This was the force she would pit herself against.

This wouldn't be the easiest escape Jinx had ever planned, but she considered herself certainly more prepared compared after her childhood escapes. A chill crept down her spine, freezing her breathing as the implications set in. If she didn't help these people, then who would?

Head still bowed and eyes fixed on the ground, Jinx's breathing resumed in short inhalations as she waited for the trio to split up. Beneath her pink fringe, her last barrier against the world, she tracked See-more's footsteps out of the store, and Gizmo's cackles three shelves away. The immovable black pillar in front of her indicated Mammoth remaining as a sentry.

Taking a deep breath, Jinx bolstered her courage and whispered, "Epat kaerb," and hid her smile as small pink sparks quietly tore through her bounds. Keeping her gazed fixed on the ground, she listened intently for any signs that someone had noticed her activity. With only Gizmo's distant exclamations of junk and mega crud reaching her ears, Jinx smiled, and her eyes glowed.

The sound of shattering glass snapped Mammoth out of guard mode. Knuckles cracking, he stalked to the back of the store. Overhearing Gizmo's exclamation of "You check the store, and I'll check the street," Jinx's smile grew. Once certain that their guards were gone, she schooled her features and turned toward her fellow hostages.

"If you guys want to get out of here in one piece, then you'll do exactly what I say," she told them. Wide, scared eyes met hers before finally one brave soul decided the pink girl with the mad gleam in her eyes was the lesser of two evils. "I'm a friend of the Titans and here to help," Jinx continued and watched as a dawning hope bid goodbye to despair. Satisfied that every eye was on her, Jinx continued. "Here's what we're going to do…"

* * *

Prompt: Goodbye


	48. Hunting

**A/N 3-18-11**: In which Jinx's plan is carried out with the frying pan. Classes and homework are both murder and time suckers. And I figured out how to give the chapters names. Score!

* * *

Chapter 48: Hunting

Looking back on the event—on those rare occasions he decided to ruminate—if Mammoth had to be asked when he knew things had taken a turn for the worse, Mammoth would have to say it was when he heard the cell phone ring. While most would underestimate the processing power behind his thick skull, Mammoth knew he wasn't stupid. Impulsive, eager to act without completely thinking things through, and enamored with food, but Mammoth wasn't stupid. He may not be a genius, but he knew how to recognize when a tide changed.

Maybe it was the ringtone or maybe it was the perky voice which answered, but once he heard the words, "Hey Shortpants!" Mammoth knew everything had changed. Turning around to look at his assignment, the hostages, for the first time since investigating the crash from earlier (a vase had fallen off a shelf), Mammoth found his dread confirmed, for instead of finding a quaking circle of tied up civilians, instead he saw one lone, slip of a girl with pink hair chatting happily away on her cell phone with no one else around her and her bounds cut.

And the girl wouldn't stop talking and even had the nerve to shush him when he first moved to stop her. The complete shift in the reins of power should have been a striking clue, but somewhere between the end of her call and the tone of her voice sweetly mocking him, Mammoth's grip on his patience and temper snapped.

Mammoth wasn't one to ponder for hours philosophically about the meaning of life when he could be enjoying the present, like food or videogames. So when most would puzzle over clues screaming something about the situation was not right, hesitate, or quail under the impending sense of doom, Mammoth acted. With a barely contained roar he had grabbed the girl from the front of her shirt and dangled her off the ground.

His first confirmation of doom came when he made eye contact and noticed a distinct absence of fear in the girl's eyes. Instead, she almost seemed smug, and that thought alone was enough to send chills down Mammoth's spine. His long ignored trepidation finally won merit when the world turned pink.

After the flash things were sketchy. Disoriented, he stumbled back; his hands tightening instinctively on the girl's throat closed on air. The last glimpse of Mammoth remembered was his reflection off a glass display case and a black cast iron frying pan rushing toward his head. Then darkness.

Later he'd grumble about never keeping hostages between the electronics and houseware departments again.

…

Jinx slowly released a hiss of pain and waved her aching hands in hopes of making the pain disappear. Hitting giants with obviously thick skulls in the back of the head even with a hex energy enhanced frying pan was not the best plan if the screaming from her nerves was any indication. But the important thing, Jinx reminded herself, was that her lovely impromptu plan was going without a hitch.

So far.

Phase 1, aka Get the Civilians Out had gone smoothly. After commanding all to link hands and to not for any reason at all let go until they were safely behind a police barricade, Jinx had given the "leader" the Ring of Illusions and cast a very strong notice me not spell on the group. While their hands remained linked anyone they passed would simply look right past them. A handy hex remotely sabotaged all surveillance and security devices on the block; after casting a final notice me not spell on both herself and the spot the hostages should have been tied up, Jinx had bid her fellow prisoners goodbye with a reminder to stay very, _very_ quiet.

"You know," she allowed as she summoned forth a pink spark into the palm of her hand. "You're a lot handier then I give you credit," she remarked to the spark. Her hand went limp and her face twisted with the irony. "I'm talking to my magic," she stated, then sighed. "I need more friends." After a quick rifle through the mental card file of said friends, Jinx amended, "Sane, muggle friends who don't know martial arts."

The exasperation melted from her face as a fond smile eased out in memory of her unexpected phone call. It had proved to be the perfect catalyst for taking down Mammoth which meant somewhere out there Big Brother Robin stepped in. Whether it was his powers of deduction or hacking skills, Robin had put together the different puzzle pieces (hostage situation, no hostages, an unperturbed Mammoth standing guard, and Jinx) and jumped on her scheme.

There were downfalls to magic, Jinx knew. Only strong magic could fool technology—hence why she fried the security systems before carrying out any major magic and before Mammoth decided to take her on.

A crash four aisles down accompanied with Gizmo's muttering jerked Jinx's thoughts back to the present. Right, one goon down, two to go. Slipping into the shadows of an adjacent aisle, Jinx reflected with great relish that Gizmo's capabilities in the field relied entirely on his electronic gadgets, all conveniently stored on his back, and Jinx just loved frying electronics. But first, Jinx called on the remnants of the illusion spell and focused her magic and will around two words.

"Yfihctiw em."

A few muted sparks and the spell focused on mental projection, delving into her more recent memories to fill in the gaps until an image of the stuff of nightmares emerged. The illusion slid over her jeans and t-shirt, settling over her like a second skin. Aside from noting a distinct change in her skin tone and the predominance of black in her wardrobe, she pushed back the urge to find a mirror and examine her illusion and focused on finding gadget boy.

In the end the pair found each other.

To her greatest consternation, Jinx tripped and her thud jerked Gizmo from his rapture in a purloined hand held video game to her. Instead of surprising him with an intimidating witch, Jinx presented Gizmo the image of a graceless pink-haired girl tripping over her own feet. For a moment the two simply stared at each other. Gizmo frozen and slack jawed, and Jinx sprawled on the ground and a tad stupefied. At the outburst of uproarious laughter, Jinx pursed her lips, and her eyes flashed pink. The resulting explosion twitched half of her smile back in place, but it only fully returned once she'd dragged Gizmo over to Mammoth, disarmed him, and had practically mummified him with duck tape.

After the last pass with the duck tape, she took a moment to breathe and check her numbers. According to Robin she was up against a fraction of the HIVE 5 which had five total members. Over at STARR Labs, the Titans were chasing down Kid and had already immobilized the second member on site, a muscular HIVE member with a yellow shield. She had immobilized Gizmo and Mammoth, leaving four of the five accounted for and one missing.

"And who are you supposed to be?"

To her greatest embarrassment, Jinx would look back on this moment and forever recall that the day she took down See-more was only because she had been caught off guard. A startled jump and a brief dart of terror proved just enough stimuli to prompt a release of her defensive magic. The rest was history.

* * *

Prompt: Numbers


	49. Reconciliation

**3-25-11:** Disappointingly enough, ch 49 was finished, uploaded, and ready to be published as of 6:30pm Thursday 3-24-11. Continuing technical difficulties have continued to prevent the update. On the plus side I'm puzzling out Chemistry, and have finished writing ch 51, the beginning of The Reunion.

**3-27-11:** Four days, five emails to support and still no change. WHY? I owe you guys two chapters this upcoming week apparently.

**3-29-11:** Why ? WHY?

**3-31-11: **It's ALIVE! Ok, long story short, whenever I logged onto my account to upload this chapter onto DTRH I kept getting an error message. I couldn't reach the page to edit the properties and upload new content for any of my stories, but after one long and disappointing week, it works! And sorry, only one ch this week.

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Chapter 49: Reconciliation

"It was a fluke." Jinx was staring adamantly at the ceiling.

"It happens to the best of us," Robin consoled.

"It was a _fluke_," she stressed. "My first outing as a heroine and my success is a fluke!"

With a weary sigh she sat up and looked across the main room's couch at Robin. Different or not he had once been her friend which automatically obligated him to provide verbal therapy, assurances, and the responsibility of listening to Jinx wallow in self-pity, all under the guise of being a supportive and encouraging friend.

He was very bad at it.

For the nth time of the hour, Jinx forced herself to remember and felt her cheeks heat up accordingly. After her loss of control-which came in the form of a hex-she had bound See-more with duct tape, hastily cast aside her illusion, and signaled the police as a hysterical, blubbering civilian. Passing through her fellow hostages, she retrieved the Ring of Illusions before trudging back to the Tower in a sense of numb revelation.

She was a fraud, an amateur, a wannabe. And then to top off her day, she collapsed on the guest room's bed, and wearily faced her reflection in the mirror.

She was gray.

"I've been learning under arguably one of the strongest magicians on the planet, and an illusion spell turns my skin gray," she ranted, an improvement Robin thought from her previous dejection. "I can't even properly dispel the remnants of an illusion. I learned that when I was twelve!"

It was her fault. She'd cast the illusion with every intention to fool any cameras or mechanical eyes looking at her. Magic of that strength didn't just disappear. She would probably have to call Zatanna for help on that one, but not now.

She was wallowing, Jinx reminded herself. A well earned pity party.

"I've spent years developing my control over my powers, and in one moment of distraction, it vanishes!" She fell dramatically back onto the sofa cushions, and Robin resisted an eye roll. Predictably, all that remained in Jinx's emotional outburst was self doubt and more ranting until she would finally listen.

As predicted, she started with the self doubt.

"What am I doing, Robin? Why am I in Jump City in the first place?" Recognizing the question for what they were, rhetorical, Robin kept his peace and let Jinx wallow. "How am I supposed to catch a guy who can move faster than I can think, when I can't properly take down his teammates, and the Titans haven't properly caught him? And no, the sleeping gas attempt at the Labs doesn't count because his body metabolized the effects too quickly."

"Jinx?" Robin queried, but Jinx had devolved into the self-righteous, pink faced (well, gray) final stages of ranting.

"How, Robin? _How_?"

A flash of amusement warmed Robin's spirits as he noted this had to be the first moment of silence for the Titans since they'd returned from STARR Labs, and he had seen the familiar look that Jinx always wore on those days she snuck over into the Batcave to verbally vomit. That had been, approximately, one hour ago.

As the echoes of her last questions bounded through the room, Robin saw the perfect opening for an answer. "By not limiting yourself." As predicted Jinx's mouth froze letting the ranting stall, and she spared a moment to sit up straight again to give Robin a look of baffled incomprehension. Taking advantage of her stunned silence, Robin continued. "Today was your first day in the field. You were alone and not expecting anything unusual to happen."

"I should have-," she began, but Robin silenced her with a look he had learned from Alfred. Quieting, she shrugged.

"You were thrown into a situation and had to think on your feet while taking into account your civilian identity, the civilians around you, and the identities and powers of the HIVE. For a first venture into heroism, you didn't do too badly."

Swirling the words around in her head, Jinx strove to reconcile her experience and opinions to his. "Not bad," she ventured.

"The hostages got away safely," Robin began, "three members of the HIVE Five were caught, and you decided to take a stand when no one else would. Not bad at all."

Pausing, Jinx soaked in her friend's words and upgraded Robin's counseling abilities in her mind before frowning at her own self-examination. "I can do better."

And when Robin remained persistently reticent, she frowned but then released her annoyance to the heavens. Being mad at an unflappable figure was hardly satisfying. "Not bad and flukes won't cut it with him. How do I take him down?"

Reaching into a compartment of his utility belt, Robin withdrew a winking thumb-sized object and passed it to Jinx. Accepting the shard, a reflection of gray caught her eye.

"Plan," and a familiar smile on a familiar face looked at Jinx. "Don't hold back."

Clutching the mirror shard tighter in her hand, Jinx smiled and as a familiar fire rekindled in her eyes.

* * *

Prompt: Persistence


	50. Research

**A/N 4-7-11:** Well, here we are halfway through the prompts. 50 done and 50 to go; mind, I'm not quite sure if we're halfway through the story yet, but I'm incredibly happy that Kid and Jinx are hashing things out in the their own characteristic way. I'm still lacking a reservoir of chapters with only two completely written, and 53 in progress, but looking back I never imagined DTRH would garner the response and feedback that it has, so thank you all, new and curious, or old and faithful, readers for giving your time to read this far.

* * *

Chapter 50: Research

Jinx spent the remnant of the day in seclusion. Since this was the last day she planned to cut herself off from the Titans, she felt justified spending the day to herself thinking. Half of that time was filled with wry amusement and contemplation at her newly acquired skin tone. Pink hair, she had accepted by necessity, and its own uniqueness, but gray skin? Then again having all her hair spontaneously fall out at age nine (and three-quarters) only to grow back pink, of all colors, years later could be considered weirder than gray skin. But not by much. The other half of her time she spent staring at the mirror shard, pondering the possibilities and the realities of her situation.

The first Titan she willingly made contact with outside of Robin or Starfire was Cyborg. An odd choice, she felt in her own personal opinion, that she sought out the Titan whose disappearance helped reshape her perceptions on Robin; however, according to Robin, Cyborg knew the most about Kid, so off she went to find him. Cornering him underneath the T-car probably hadn't been her best idea or the best way to endear herself in his heart. Especially since she had slipped automatically into her sneak up on Robin mode.

Apparently, while Jinx could never sneak up on Robin with that action, she could sneak up on others that way. But quite fortunately, no harm came to the T-car between her "Heya Cyborg," and Cyborg's reaction, although the metallic ring of a dropped wrench and hard thud had worried her at the onset. But the bump on the noggin hadn't damaged any circuits, Cyborg's or the T-car's, so Jinx found herself quickly forgiven and whisked to a computer terminal. Soon her eyes were greedily absorbing the Titan's accumulated knowledge of The Kid.

"The Kid, former student of the HIVE Academy for Extraordinary Young People, recruited at age 10 shortly after acquiring his powers," Cyborg recited behind her shoulder while Jinx skimmed the screen. "Birth name: unknown. Family: unknown. Powers: super speed. Above average intelligence-,"

Jinx blinked in surprise as her eyes settled on the column labeled Attitude. "Extremely annoying?" she questioned, a solitary eyebrow arching.

Nodding, Cyborg elaborated. "Kid has the marvelous ability to babble on about nothing while also proving surprisingly insightful." He fixed her with a knowing look. "But you already know that."

"We've met, a long time ago," Jinx stated settling for being maddeningly vague. "People change in two years. If I'm going to find him, I need to be prepared."

She dove back into Bumblebee's account of Kid, his powers, personality, and abilities. Her fingers froze to hover over the keys when Cyborg said, "Even if someone changes that doesn't mean they're strangers."

Sighing, Jinx swiveled in her chair to make eye contact with Cyborg's human and mechanical eyes. "I don't remember friendship advice being part of normal briefings," she managed to say politely (while thanking Alfred for his lessons. Between Alfred and Zatanna's combined efforts, Jinx was confident in her ability to charm the socks off anyone if she so chose, so remaining civil didn't prove too hard a challenge).

"Change is hard," she finally replied and quickly switched the topic back in order to change the mildly disapproving look Cyborg steadily gave her. "I understand you were able to observe Kid working in the field during your stay at the HIVE?"

He continued to hold her gaze for just a few moments longer, maintaining the same assessing look before acquiescing and discussing the details of The Kid's run in Central City. Hours later Jinx had remained in the Titans main room having staked out the corner where wall and windows overlooked the ocean. Over the hours she had watched the Titans drift in and out of the room while enduring introductions, exchanging pleasantries, unashamed staring, suffering a taste of tofu, and utter humiliation on the Game Station, but she had persevered. With each interaction with Robin's Titans a small knot of emotional frailty had slowly strengthened.

Starfire had been absolutely delighted that Jinx had emerged from her room. Cyborg, warmer, as he saw her taking his advice. Raven…chilly. Beast Boy had been wary yet enthusiastic. Robin had yet to make an appearance, but at least Jinx had been sociable.

In the end she had bigger fish to fry. Thumbs smoothing across the smooth plane of the windows, Jinx infused another pulse of her magic in the pane, while letting her mind drift toward her triple checked, rethought, and re-angled plan. Soon all would fall into place. Soon Kid would come; he wouldn't be able to resist. Soon, surrounded by mirrors, she would glare down at the object of her ire, and she would have her revenge.

* * *

Prompt: Frailty


	51. Discovery

**A/N 4-14-11:** Well, here it is the beginning of the three chapter encounter between J and KF. I don't know if I've ever made this clear before, but whenever Jinx starts speaking gibberish, she's using the Backwards Language that Zatanna taught her as a focus for her magic. So if you see gibberish, read backwards right to left to see what she's really saying.

* * *

Chapter 51: Discovery

"I cast a hex on you."

For a brief moment as Kid maintained his gaze into the glowing eyes spitting poison at him, he wondered if he should be flattered or concerned by the attention the little spitfire was showering him in.

Stunning was the first word to come to his mind when he had first seen the grey skin contrasting with the oddest eyes he had ever seen-pink with vertical pupils. The hair proved equally eye catching pulled up behind her head into a style that could be described as devil horns leaving her slim neck bare, and drawing the eye down to her shoulders and black, witch-like outfit.

Paradoxical was another word that came to Kid's mind as he tried to wrap his mind around how such a tiny yet graceful slip of a girl could contain so much power, and how such anger could be expressed so fluidly on her face. And she was talking again Kid chided himself while also ignoring two dueling instincts of self-preservation and curiosity.

She was…

"No matter where you go…"

…breathtaking…

"…or what guise you wear…"

…mesmerizing…

"…I will _always_ be able to find you."

Ah, Kid thought as the judgment of the situation finally ruled. Concerned then.

…

The day had started off ordinarily enough, or at least as normal as possible for the HIVE 5. The remnants of said five spent the morning contemplating the dubious merits of freeing the founding trio from their bonds in the tender care of the Jump City PD. While Private HIVE was of the firm opinion that Mammoth, Gizmo, and See-more were perfectly capable of breaking themselves out of jail and should do just that since they'd allowed themselves to be arrested in the first place, leaving them to languish in jail without assistance just didn't sit well with Kid.

The HIVE 5 was a team, a motley, self-serving string of individuals, but a team none the less. Shouldn't teammates be able to count on each other in times of need? Or was Kid just being an idealistic sap, as the Private had described him? The phrase yellow-bellied pansy had also cropped up but by then Kid had gotten the point. If he wanted to spring the trio from the clink, fine, but he could do so alone.

For his part, while Kid felt some token obligation to assist his teammates, Kid was more interested in the individuals behind their placement behind bars. It had taken the entire Team of Titans working together to take down the HIVE trio after the invasion of the tower, and since he'd been entertaining those very same Titans at the STARR Labs, Kid couldn't help but wonder who had taken the team apart. And well, after so many days of being the HIVE 5's lackey for grunt work, gee he just couldn't get worked up about anyone who'd mummified Gizmo's giant gob with duct tape. In fact Kid possessed half a mind to track down the bloke and congratulate them, shake their hand, maybe dance a jig, or plant a kiss on the crown of their head. Of course, in the ten seconds the entire spiel would have taken, he'd be dashing off again since the person had jailed the HIVE"s top team (which coincidentally said a lot about the HIVE's academic instruction quality for aspiring ne'er-do-wells) and high tail it out of there.

And, of course, once the idea had occurred to find the person behind his teammates capture, the idea latched on and held. Congratulations aside, assessing this new threat to their existences as petty thieves and criminals seemed prudent or something to rub in See-more's face later. Thus started an endeavor mostly spent whining about how high-speed internet was anything but high speed, a lot of foot work, and pondering as to why any and all security footage had blanked out before anything interesting occurred. His conclusion: because the person involved didn't want to be seen or heard. Smart.

Huffing with impatience, Kid opened up the GPS tracking monitors monitoring all HIVE 5 members' positions and signals. Two blips, predictably, were hanging loose at HIVE HQ. The three others were spaced out in Jump City Prison's Special Containment Facility built especially for the city's super-powered resident misdemeanors, felons, and miscreants. A causal look showed no urgent cry for help or SOS was coming from the Fearless Leader and his partners. Either See-more and Co's signal was being hacked, or he was keeping his head down for the moment.

A few rapid clicks closed the screen, and Kid instead brought up a map of the city focusing on Main Street's MegaStore, the scene of the crime. While Kid normally wouldn't advise any lawbreaker to return to the scene of any crime, he had some investigating to carry out. See-more would be livid and demanding blood once he emerged from the clink. Kid had long ago learned information proved to be both a barrier from anger and rewarded with cash, two commodities he always enjoyed possessing. Ignorance was only bliss for the innocent after all.

Sadly, returning to the scene of the crime led to the fastest boy alive being snared by the same individual he had snared. An ironic situation.

Now, the weirdest part of his day hadn't been tossing around ideas for breaking See-more out of jail, the fact someone had put See-more in jail, or even later meeting the person responsible for See-more's imprisonment. No, the weirdest part of Kid's day involved finding the person responsible for putting See-more behind bars.

How had Kid found the mysterious individual at the heart of the whole mess? Well, to put it simply, the voices told him where to go. Well, by voices he meant voice, and by told he meant shown. Sitting in front of a computer screen digging for information on the list of hostages, Kid let out an unholy shriek when the first whisper entered his consciousness.

_Kid_

A quick check of the security cameras, heat and motion detectors laced throughout the base and a thorough run-through of the HIVE 5 HQ brought up no intruders or malevolent figures. Kid had only just started dismissing the entire incident as the result of a stressed and overactive imagination when he heard it again.

_Kid_

It was Blood all over again. An intrusive voice blaring into his thoughts, invading his mind while seeking a foothold to establish control. "Get out of my head!" Kid yelled and zipped fervently around the room yanking out electrical cords and speeding up his thought processes in order to outrun any psychic/telepath until they would have passed out from rapid information overload. Bursting out of the main room, Kid dashed past an oblivious Private HIVE and down to the generator room to plunge the HIVE base in darkness.

Panting Kid leaned against the master fuse box and relaxed every tense muscle in his body one by one and just breathed. With the electrical systems shut down any malicious parasite or electronic prank at the root of the voice would be negated. None of the HIVE's generator powered technology had the power or capabilities to broadcast any audio messages. Grim, Kid decided once Gizmo returned he would personally teach the squirt why he shouldn't prank the resident speedster. Somewhere a ridiculous number of floors above him, Private HIVE would be yelling, well cursing, at Kid for cutting all power, but for now blanketed in shadow, silence surrounded Kid.

_But Kid_, the teasing tone drew out his name. _You need to find me_.

The sharp spike in his heart rate had nothing to do with the good kind of excitement males relished in even if the voice was distinctly feminine. No, his heartbeat increase was accompanied by a distinct spike of fear, but Kid had long ago learned how to work past his fears.

"Who are you?"  
_You know_.

"No, I don't," he levelly repeated and focused on ignoring how in complete darkness the voice sounded like it came from every corner of the room as it echoed through his head.

_You'll know how to find me. Just…remember…_

A golden rose glowed in his memory and a well remembered phrase that accompanied it started automatically.

"To my new apprentice. May you emerge…"

The Rose Girl. Recognition drifted in with the memories of the event. A school project, a lone, stubborn girl, and a most disagreeable backpack.

What prompted Kid's hands to throw back on the lights, or his feet to dash up the stairs onto the streets, he didn't quite recognize, but it seemed to follow an unheard call and unfelt tugging. The sensation closely resembled being drawn toward somewhere, a strange certainty in something yet unseen. All the while his mind raced.

His Rose Girl had left impressions after their run-in. The strongest of the impressions remained solidified in memory. The first memory which came to mind was that backpack; an evil backpack which shocked anyone that touched it with exception to its bearer. The second memory which came to mind, Kid had never learned her name. The Rose Girl had clung tenaciously to her name hiding it, defending it, hedging around the subject, defecting inquiries, and guarding it so fiercely, as if it a secret never to be revealed. The third memory and second mystery of the Rose Girl was her rose. In a trade for her freedom she had exchanged a golden rose pendant, a rose which glowed and spoke with methods his scientific explorations had yet to explain.

Yes, voice haunting his head or not, he wanted to meet her again, if only to sate his curiosity. The Rose Girl had caught his lasting attention, and the final mystery that had so imprinted her on his mind. He alone remembered her. Usually kidnapping anyone would have led to a week of solid tongue lashing and scolding from Bee, and Wykkyd had been deeply impressed by the Rose Girl, but at the end of the day only Kid remembered.

She had disappeared. How did Kid know? He had zipped between the Academy and Jump's streets looking for the Rose Girl, and had spent countless more hours thinking about her. For a guy whose thoughts raced at the same speeds he could run, hours could seem like weeks, and weeks eternities. But finally he had accepted she had left Jump, and he would probably never see her again. Such was life. Until now.

Now with the voices and laughter dancing through his head, they mysteries and questions clamored in his head but alongside raced doubts and suspicions. Inescapable questions that rose from his experiences with Headmaster Blood, and a final, nagging thought itched, teased and flirted within conscious recall in his memory; and even as these thoughts whirled in his head, a maelstrom of cognitive processing, the world had slowed around him as he followed the tentative call until he stood in the middle of a deserted store.

Someone had redecorated. Masked eyes trailed from floor to ceiling, and finally rested on the slim muscular frame of a black mask and jumpsuited figure with a white lightning bolt proudly blazing across his chest. Propped up against boxes, standing against the wall, scattered around the room, hanging from the ceiling and leaning against the shelves, were mirrors.

A white lightning bolt stared back at him striking his chest over and over again across the room. Mirrors and his reflection everywhere staring back at him. A carnival attraction set up inside the very store at the center of the latest HIVE heist.

The first glimpse of pink from the corner of his eye alerted Kid that he was no longer alone. In all mirrors and every mirror, pink, black, and gray traveled catching Kid's eyes as he tracked the glimpses across the room until he'd found standing between two perfect reflections of herself the oddest yet exotic looking girl he had ever seen.

In a span of nanoseconds too quick for the mortal eye to follow, Kid's jaw dropped, and his eyes roved traveling over the odd, black short dress, striped purple tights, slim lithe frame, the curve of a bare neck, and his eyes lingered longest on the pink hair pulled up and away from her head, parted and molded into a style that resembled horns. Then his eyes found hers, pink with a strange cat-eyed slit instead of a round, circular pupil, but the pupil and color didn't cause his jaw to reattach to the roof of his mouth, or for his attention to linger in mortal time. No, the smoldering fire and cold determination in those eyes arrested his attention more so than the gray skin, the pink hair, or the devil horn things.

A tentative question began to form in his mind as the strange creature in front of him acknowledged his presence and spoke, answering his long held, unspoken question. Equally active pink-eyes traveled up and down his frame, digesting changes and consistencies, lingering especially longer on the white lightning bolt, narrowing as if seeing something both familiar and confusing, but all too soon such emotion disappeared behind the battle mask. Stepping forward she casually walked step by step towards Kid, eyes locked on the white eye patches on his mask.

"You once asked me what my name was," she drawled ice bolstering the strength of her words, and exciting the nagging question dancing at the back of Kid's mind. Somehow hard pink eyes pierced the mask to lock directly onto his. "It's Jinx," she said bluntly, and the realization of his question came as she raised her hand in front of her as Kid remembered the real mystery about…Jinx.

Pink spiraling curves of energy flowed out of her hand slamming into his chest and sending him careening backwards into a mirror.

When he'd first met his Rose Girl, she'd been wearing a power inhibitor as a bracelet.

Thunder roared, the voice in his head, the same voice as Jinx yelled, "_Nepo_!" and all the mirrors flamed pink with energy, and Kid fell through the mirror wondering what his ignorance had gotten him into this time.

* * *

Prompt: Ignorance


	52. Cat and Mouse

**A/N 4-21-11:** I liked writing this chapter. An unintentional reveal came out that I didn't plan to write, but I loved writing the banter in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 52: Cat and Mouse

Kid was a land bound creature by both nature and choice. When he had been born he hadn't floated out of his crib to bob along the ceiling, nor had he started spontaneously defying gravity after the lightning strike which had turned his life upside down. Even when Kid chose to defy gravity by running up walls (or skyscrapers) with only his velocity helping him elude gravity's covetous grip, Kid had always preferred to keep both of his feet firmly planted on the ground. He held a high respect for both gravity and friction, two forces which had contributed too many childhood cuts, bruises, and scrapes. So understandably when Kid found himself free falling in dark sky surrounded by glittering stars with no ground in sight, he was disconcerted.

But to his credit he didn't scream. Not when he realized the stars he fell past weren't actually stars but mirrors. Not when he realized he had breathable air to fill his lungs, nor when the plunge seemed endless. Not even when the realization came he wasn't on earth anymore, nor when a small blue rectangle began growing beneath him, and the realization came that he was about to crash.

Landing only further proved to Kid that he was no longer on earth, for instead of a bone breaking impact, he bounced immediately back in the air only to skip like a stone along the platform until finally skidding to a stop on his face. Unfortunately, the unusual gravity did nothing to ameliorate the pain sliding along the ground on his face brought. Rock quarries were softer then the ground his nose was buried in, Kid griped, but not for long. Pushing off the ground he sprung to his feet and took stock of the situation.

Endless midnight blue stretched for fathomless eternities into each horizon, and strung through this world's sky like a multitude of stars hung mirrors. Far above his head rectangular mirrors adorned in the sky, glittering in the depths of this strange place. The platform stretched half a football filed in length in length and seemed to hang unaided and unassisted in the same mysterious way as the mirrors. A flare of pink caught his eye.

Descending from the clouds surrounding with an aura of her distinctive energy came Jinx. Unlike Kid's path, her descent was controlled, and she touched down lightly onto the platform. At first contact the glow haloing her body transferred over onto the platform, and Kid felt a heavy weight settle on his shoulders as the platform briefly glowed pink before resuming its original coloring.

The pair couldn't have been more than twenty yards apart, but Kid recognized the emotion behind the tilt of her chin and set of her shoulders. If she was an angel, then she was an avenging one, and every nuance of her posture screamed that she thought she was in control of the situation. And maybe she was, Kid conceded, but a spark of amusement lit as he reflected that he and authority had never been the best of friends, so when Jinx took initiative and spoke, he jumped right in following her lead.

"I believe the deal was," she had started cold eyes locking on his, "'You tell me yours, and I'll tell you mine'."

At this Kid couldn't help but smile. "_You_ were the one who said that, if I recall correctly, and I don't remember agreeing to that."

Unphased she continued, "Well, you know who I am now."

"Jinx," he teased. "Such a fierce name for such a pretty girl."

An eye roll was the only acknowledgment her received. "But the question remains," and once again she did the impossible by managing to lock eyes with him. "Who _are_ you?"

A smile crossing his face and mischief dancing in his heart, Kid took the challenge. "I'm Kid, the Kid. Also known as Kiddo, Shorty, Runt, Ginger, Freckles occasionally, Hey you, Squirt or Brat, but I prefer Kid."

Clearly underwhelmed, Jinx drawled, "What kind of villain name is Kid?"

Dodging the barb with ease and his natural impish streak fully fueled, Kid in turn replied, "What kind of hero name is Jinx?"

"An accurate one!" And another pink flare of light came barreling towards him. Laughing he dodged the flare even as the event cemented an opinion in his mind. Messing with her was going to be so much fun. Like a little boy he childishly wondered if he tweaked her again would she respond with the same delightful outrage. A laugh escaped him but any anger Jinx had was quickly hidden as she schooled her features. He could feel the tendrils of emotion being constrained and reigned in until a placid, cool face looked back at him. A similar depression in his high spirits focused his thoughts and purpose. He had questions and he would get answers.

"So if I run fast," he mused aloud, "then what do your pretty waves do other then pack a punch?"

"Doesn't matter," Jinx said and crossed her arms across her chest. "Neither of our powers will work here."

That startled Kid; experimentally, he took a step reached for that force which spurred his step to speeds unknown, and tripped falling flat on his face in front of a girl. At the muffled, grudging giggle that escaped her, Kid felt his heart go twitterpated and thump appreciatively.

_Focus Kid,_ he scolded himself as he pushed himself off the ground, again. "Where are we," he asked curiously, gesturing to the alien sky and its strange stars. Disinterest crossed Jinx's face, but she answered in an obviously bland tone.

"I call it the Mirror Realm. If you know how to open the pathways, then any mirror can take you to this place, and once inside you can reach any mirror anywhere, as you wish."

"So it's a pocket dimension," Kid hypothesized. "Like in String Theory."

With a careless shrug she moved a few steps closer before allowing, "Both science and magic can be used to open the doorways to this place."

"Magic?" Kid frowned and glanced at the strange place around him. Alternate, even infinite dimensions he could accept through science, but magic?

As if hearing his doubts Jinx repeated her statement from earlier. "Believe it or not Kid," ah, a sneer at his name, "the only reason you're here is because of magic."

"That's disappointing. I had always hoped science would rip through dimensions before I went insane, but I digress." If this was insanity, Kid mused, he would at least indulge himself. A few quick steps, a preplanned congratulation and then the Swedish models would come and join him in his madness. Except one step forward and an instinctive grasp at his speed sent him toppling straight into another face plant on the platform nose first. This was getting old, fast, he mused, considerably miffed. He sat up and glared accusingly at Jinx.

"What did you do?" he demanded and finally the indifferent mask on her face fell to reveal her true feelings, cold satisfaction along with a dastardly smirk.

"I evened the odds."

…

Finally the explanation sealed behind tightly sealed lips could be released. With an almost concerning satisfaction, Jinx couldn't wait to see Kid squirm once he found out the truth. Who knew justice could be so satisfying? Before her Kid had discovered he couldn't access his powers. His angry realization proved a refreshing change from his earlier flippant attitude. Now he would listen. Now he would realize his year old mistake.

"The Mirror Realm is naturally conducive for magic users, and severely dampens any nonmagic abilities," a Cheshire grin spread across her lips. "Your power doesn't work here."

"And yours does?"

"Normally, yes," Jinx practically purred and let her eyes gleam with the fire of her magic. "You see, I'm a sorceress."

Ah, so started the squirming, but for his part Kid remained arrogantly brave. "Is this the part where you beat me up?" he asked, and even though the only part of his face she could see was his mouth and jaw, Jinx could already tell he wasn't going to simply be intimidated by any power displays, or at least superficial ones. Good, she admired the steel in his spine. It wouldn't be as fun to play with a coward. At that thought Jinx chastised herself, scolding the theatrics. Careful girl.

While all had been necessary, the spell to draw him to the ambush, and the trip to this realm, the point had been to throw him off balance and make him feel vulnerable, not to torture him. Catharsis, Jinx ruminated as an echo of one of Zatanna's lectures echoed through her mind, brought no real satisfaction; it only aggravated an issue further.

"As satisfying as that would seem, no," Jinx admitted. "I'm not here to beat you up or even to permanently strip you of your powers." Waving her hand at the surroundings, "I brought you here because in this place I would have your undivided attention, and you wouldn't be able to run away."

"So you are a stalker," another cool accusation with the hint of a raised eyebrow.

"No."

"A fan?" he guessed again mischief entering the now derisive tone.

Pulse jumping, Jinx gritted out, "No."

"So you're an unhinged, obsessive "sorceress" preoccupied with yours truly?" His charming grim and excessively exaggerated wagging eyebrows finally sparked her temper.

"Are you always such a cocksure, self-centered, arrogant brat?" she snapped while mentally telling herself that while she could hex him the damage would only be superficial. Despite her best training an underlying train of thought still had to chant, do not hex. Do not hex. Do _not_ hex.

Across from her Kid just smiled that self-assured smirk, and Jinx fought to keep from fuming.

"Two years ago," Jinx began with a forcible change in the conversation, "we met outside a storefront window in Jump City. You tried to steal my backpack and failed spectacularly."

"The backpack had an unfair advantage," Kid quipped. A withering glare conveyed Jinx's unspoken words quite clearly. Interrupt me and die. The permanently amused grin adorning Kid's face widened.

Sometimes, sparks flew when two people interacted, especially between a guy and girl, but if the sparks were flying as Jinx distinctly felt they were, than they were certainly not those sparks associated with romance. So instead of remaining levelheaded and continuing along with her plan, Jinx had to seize back control of the conversation in the one way she had sworn to both herself and Zatanna that she would not.

"Since we've met has your life extraordinarily _sucked_ more so than usual in the past two years?"

Ah, she was a vicious witch. But the intended effect had already occurred with her less then innocent statement out on the table. The smirk was gone, his face was blank, and she had control of the conversation gain.

"Right," Jinx started borrowing a cheery upbeat tone courtesy of Starfire, "So have you ever heard of the Law of Equivalent Exchange?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because it's the reason why you're here."

* * *

Prompt: Innocence


	53. Bound

**A/N 4-29-11:** Sorry for the delay. I had to swim through a deluge of homework assignments in dire need of completion before I could edit this chapter and post. Regardless, I love this chapter, and I hope you'll love it also. Finally, the Mirror Realm was inspired from the JLU episode Flash and Substance. I figured since the mirror realm existed in that tv universe where KF becomes the Flash why couldn't he run into it earlier in his life. Great Wally episode that one.

* * *

Chapter 53: Bound

To say that all cheer had been sucked from the Mirror Realm would be an understatement unless you counted Jinx. Here she was, the infamous Kid before her, and she bore the upper hand. Oh, how the roles had reversed. Now he had his power bound, and she had brought him to a strange place that he could not escape from. Even staring at his pinched features and gritted jaw, she still marveled at how now they would reach the heart of the matters before them.

"You're responsible?" Kid breathed, and Jinx smiled at the hissed words he had to squeeze between his teeth in order to escape his mouth. He was angry. Good, she didn't fear him. She was no longer trapped and bound to spells and secrets. Now was her time to shine, and she would do so with honesty.

"Indirectly," she admitted. "My powers have the unique ability to bring bad luck and destruction as I wish. In science I suppose you could say that my powers cause and accelerate entropy." Batman and Robin had a field day when they had hypothesized how her powers worked.

"You and I entered into a magical agreement," she continued. "Crook that you are, you took more than you gave, and as a result my magic has been haunting your steps." She paused and her brow wrinkled as she arranged her thoughts. "Mind, my magic acted more as a catalyst. It merely accelerated unfortunate events which would have occurred either way."

"You're lying," Kid stated, cold fury seeping into his voice and lacing through his stiff form.

"Why would I?" Jinx asked.

"I never entered into any agreement with you, magical or otherwise," Kid stated; clearly whatever amiable front he possessed had vanished. "You say you can't use your powers here, yet you flaunt them in front of me. You say you're the girl I met in Jump two years ago, but you don't even look like her!"

With a weary sigh, Jinx replied, "I'm a sorceress. I can look however I want. While in this realm under the purpose I am now, I cannot use my powers to hurt you. And as for our agreement, you kidnapped me, and if I wanted to return to Jump City, I had to give you an item from my backpack so you could pass some _ridiculous_ exam for the HIVE."

"But that had nothing to do with magic," Kid argued, the worst of his ire cooled but a healthy amount of irritation remaining to egg him on. "And what "purpose" do you have for getting inside my head and kidnapping me?"

"The agreement had _everything_ to with magic," Jinx said. "Magic was at stake. My backpack was filled with enough magical artifacts to take over the world. Did you ever wonder why my backpack shocked you? It was spelled. I had enough charms and spells on me to allow me to walk through fire and emerge unscathed."

Eyes glowing dangerously, Jinx's long withheld tirade spilled out. "I was in Jump to visit my best friend, and _you_ ruined it by kidnapping me! And the fastest way I could get back to Jump was to give _you_ something from my backpack, and I couldn't give you anything magical, so I had to give you something harmless, my necklace."

Calming, Jinx breathed deeply before continuing on. "Because magical items were at stake the trade for returning to Jump fell under a magical exchange, and because of the dozens of protection spells on me that magical exchange was subject to the Magical Rule of Equivalent Exchange, and you failed to put up.

"You didn't match my price, so there were magical repercussions. You've had a black cloud hovering over you for years. My purpose is to complete the exchange. You owe me Kid, and I have come to collect."

"You're still lying."

Out of all the responses he could have given her, the given one only spoke of his pigheadedness. She was going to kill Kid. "Have you listened to nothing I just said?"

"Oh sure, I listened, but you're overestimating yourself. If everything you said is true-don't look at me like that- then I owe you nothing."

"Excuse me?" To say her tone was frigid was to say Slade was a criminal i.e. a massive understatement.

"I gave you freedom." And a small smile crossed his face at the dumbstruck look Jinx was giving him complete with a dropped jaw. "The way I see it, I kidnapped you, we bargained, and I took you back. I could have turned you over to the HIVE, but I let you go. You're free because of me."

"You gave me a _ride_!" Jinx declared, and perhaps for the first time Kid glimpsed beyond the cold and spite. "My freedom was never at stake!"

Surprisingly, beneath the layers of contempt and self assurance, Kid saw for once the hurt, her pain. A girl who had to bargain an obviously valuable memento in order to keep the world from crashing down. Out of duty she had sacrificed, and she hadn't quite gotten over the pain of her choice; pain she held him responsible for creating.

"A ride must cost some reasonable price," he pressed, unwisely too, he noted at the flash of energy in her eyes. "So what do I owe? The necklace didn't have enough monetary value to pawn." Lie, when Gizmo had caught a glimpse of the necklace his mouth had hung open as he drooled in awe over the necklace (which Kid had neglected to show to Bee or turn in for his assignment. His reasoning? It was special).

"That necklace was _priceless_," Jinx growled, and again the hidden flash of pain haunting her eyes grew stronger. The more she dwelled on the subject the more her true feelings bled through her anger and calculation. "Monetary value aside, the emotional value I have for that necklace makes it priceless. And according to the law of equivalent exchange, if I trade something priceless, you have to exchange something priceless in return, and a _ride_," the sneer in her voice over the word could have killed lesser men, "doesn't match the price. You owe me."

"And unless I pay up my life gets worse according to this magic haunting me," Kid summarized. "You must really dislike me." He wondered aloud, eyes darting up and down her figure.

"Dislike you?" Jinx echoed, and the disgust in her voice as she repeated his phrase didn't bode well. "I don't 'dislike' you. I _hate_, no," she stopped, and a brief look of contemplation blanketed her features. "No, hate possesses a certain kindness that fails to describe the enmity I hold for you."

"So you really dislike me," Kid said with a smile. Good, he liked knowing where he stood with other people. "Which means you'll really make me pay."

"Oh yes," Jinx agreed. "You owe me something priceless, and I have had two years to decide how to collect my debt."

"Yet, if you hate me so much you wouldn't collect. You'd let the repercussions run its course and ruin my life," Kid interrupted. Then a startling event occurred. For the first time in their encounter Kid saw uncertainty enter Jinx's face. The look was fleeting and only communicated through a quick darting of her eyes down to the ground then she frigidly stared him down once more.

"You thought about it," he accused. "You seriously considered leaving me to my fate. So why didn't you?"

"I couldn't," she snapped, and somehow she seemed offended at his accusation.

For the oddest reason her response seemed to please Kid. Why, she couldn't fathom, but the thoughtful air descending on him made Jinx wary.

"So you really are a hero then, trying to save me from my own choices." That had been the wrong thing to say. Whatever button he'd pressed or tick he'd nudged all vulnerability fled Jinx as determination bolstered her courage and reaffirmed her resolve.

"I came to collect something powerful, something priceless. Something precious to you," she said arms crossed and a smirk firmly in place. "I have come to collect your name."

A cold fist clenched in his stomach even as Kid laughed her statement off. Never show weakness. Work through your fear, and never give anyone an edge. So his past teachings flooded his mind even as he tried to blow off her claim.

"You want my name? I've told you. It's Kid."The smug in Jinx's eyes danced along with amusement and satisfaction. The rocks in Kid's stomach dropped further as he jested again. "Besides even if you want my name, how are you going to get it? I'm not telling."

"You won't have too," the serene silky quality of her voice did not bode well. With a sweeping gesture Jinx waved at the background. "This realm will help me discover your name along with the magic that seeks to complete our contract. I will learn part of your name with or without your help."

"And a name is priceless," Kid stalled, grasping for straws.

"There is power in a name," Jinx serenely replied and began to muse. Magic filled her eyes and tendrils flickered around her framed, and the platform glowed.

"Now," she began. "Your name. Your hidden name in exchange for the rose. A rose," a tug of magic prodded her. "A rose by any other name…" she trailed off, eyes hazy.

"Shakespeare?" Kid asked incredulous, a bark of laughter escaping him. Yet unease rested. Romeo and Juliet and the infamous balcony scene was entirely irrelevant to either of his names, but the tangents Jinx was latching onto, although ridiculous, didn't explain why his feet were suddenly immobilel and why his whole body felt frozen. He couldn't move and an uncomfortable pressure rested on his shoulders only to trickle down, dribbling to his very toes, and moving inside his body as if to reach his very soul.

With a shock he noted a blazing line stretching between his and Jinx's feet, and that his body glowed with the same light as Jinx's eyes. _Magic is not real,_ he thought fiercely. Yet his very surroundings mocked his belief, and Jinx continued on, while another tug wrenched through his bones.

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou," Jinx continued her brow creased and focus inward following the train of thought along with the magical threads stretching between her and Kid which guided her path. "Romeo," she murmured again.

"It is the east, and Juliet is the sun." A firmer tug this time. "East," and the path grew stronger. "East, directions: right, left, ahead, behind, no." The trail grew cold, more confused. "East," she returned, and the threads narrowed further. "North, South, East,…"

And there it was. The word in her mouth drifted out, and a sense of completion came with its pronouncement. "West. Part of your name is West. Obviously not your first name, unless your parents were especially eccentric. No, the name West can only be your surname." Here she smiled at him. "Your last name is West."

Looking to the sky she declared, "I have been paid in full, and the bargain is complete. May all return to as it was."

He would only ever call the following event coincidence, but at the end of her sentence, the pink light trapping him vanished, and Kid collapsed to his knees as the sensation of a dark cloud and heavy weight lifted off his shoulders. He was free. Whatever darkness that had haunted him these past two years was gone. But his name…

"Now what?" he asked. "Why did you want my name?"

"You have quite a bit of leverage over me," Jinx replied. "You met my favored civilian guise, and you possess my necklace. I needed a bargaining chip to ensure my privacy."

"I wouldn't have told anyone," he said.

"Why should you do such a thing?" Jinx coolly replied. "That's not your nature. You steal and take anything you wish for your own benefit and pleasure."

"You don't know anything about me," Kid gritted out.

"I know your name as you know mine," Jinx replied.

"So you did all that for revenge?" Kid asked, and if a hint of disgust colored his tone, Jinx cared not.

"I did it because it had to be done," she dodged, but Kid, having caught a scent, refused to let go. In fact he took a turn at musing aloud.

"So two years ago I take your necklace and tick you off. You spend the next two years plotting revenge and use your knowledge of "Equivalent Exchange" to make a power play," at the tones of admiration creeping into his voice, Jinx warned, "West…"

Waving her off he continued, "and you decided you want my name. That's even worse than taking my powers or beating me up because you can use my name to expose my identity. I'd never be able to rest. Yet in gaining my name you also end a two year streak of "bad luck" after dragging me to a dimension that you control the exits and entrances in order to keep me in one place, and where you have advantage over me."

A wide smile spread across Kid's face, and Jinx felt a sense of doom enter the pit of her stomach. He wouldn't possibly…

"I like you," Kid declared the wide smile on his face reaffirming his declaration. "You're cunning, underhanded, yet straight forward, and manipulate situations to your advantage. You'd make a great villainess except you're way too moral to ever be satisfied."

Horror filled Jinx at the utter failure of her scheme. She was supposed to scare him off forever not attract the deluded idiot. She had to regain control over the situation before the imbecile became love struck. And she knew just the curse to keep him on his toes.

"Shut it!" she snapped. "Just because I lifted the magic that's been hurting you for the past two years doesn't mean I won't curse you myself."

The dopey, lovesick look he was giving her didn't indicate that he was listening at all.

"I've been cursed with bad luck for my entire life, and you will taste it as well. I cast a hex on you," she hissed to the object of her ire. "No matter where you go, or what guise you wear, I will _always_ be able to find you."

The magic shot out from her and anchored to West, establishing a bond between the pair. There barricaded from the outside world in a dimension of mirrors a bond was forged connecting the pair through dimension, space, and time.

* * *

Prompt: Barricaded


	54. Rose

**A/N 5-2-11:** This is the only update for the week. Why Monday and not Thursday? It's finals week, so super study time is needed. Thanks and enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 54: Rose

The infuriating simpleton. The lighthearted buffoon. The deluded fool. He hadn't stopped his rambling and puppy dog eyes (well, mask squares) or fawning even after the tracking spell took, and Jinx frankly lost all patience with him. She dropped him through a trapdoor and into a mirror back to Earth. Where on Earth he ended up she neither knew, nor cared because with his speed he'd be back in Jump in mere moments.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she exited the mirrors back into the Mega store to find another rose waiting for her. A disdainful glare later and the rose had withered away, but Jinx could only wonder what new terror had entered her life now.

* * *

Prompt: Life


	55. Hobby

**A/N 5-12-11:** Events in this chapter refer back to chapter 34, and Jinx's official Title (which will be properly unveiled in ch 56) is 18 syllables, six words long, and probably thought up by Beast Boy and Starfire with Raven adding in a word for good measure. As Jinx and I will tell you, unpacking is a pain.

* * *

Chapter 55: Hobby

"Nice costume."

Pencil hovering over paper, Jinx, predictably, froze, and Robin didn't try to hide his smile. Once again in the never ending competition the pair had on who could sneak up on whom better, Robin had won.

Jinx glanced up at him, shot him the mandatory disdainful glare before moving her platform shoes from the couch cushions to the ground. In response to his remark, she said, "Halloween came early this year."

Vaulting over the couch, Robin landed next to Jinx and peered curiously over her shoulder to the pad of paper resting in her lap. "No unicorns this time?" he asked.

With a sigh accompanied with the obligatory eye roll, Jinx let the sketchbook fall out of her shielding embrace. "No, not this time," she commented. "This time it's memories. My memories."

Nudging the sketchbook until it pumped against Robin's thigh, Jinx shrugged. Accepting the invitation, Robin picked up the book and began flipping through the pages while asking "which ones?"

"The ones that came with déjà vu." At Robin's raised eyebrow, Jinx elaborated. "Back when Terra became a Titan, I was worried about my best friend because this evil douchebag known as Slade had cropped up again. So, I tried to peer into the future. It didn't turn out well."

The sketches so far were all in graphite from a regular number two pencil, if Robin had to make a classification, unusual for Jinx whom preferred graphite sketching pencils art supplies over school supplies. Jinx had always favored sketching, although she called her pictures doodles. She had been _doodling_ for years, a hobby picked up when stuck inside a manor for six years. The shift in focus to capturing an image, idea, or object helped distract her from her confinement, she'd once mentioned.

Robin could still remember the day Richard Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne, had visited the Zatarra residence, and in retaliation for Jinx's trespassing in his room, he had infiltrated hers. The sketchbook had been splayed out on the bed filled with the ever striking images of unicorns. Jinx claimed she had been going through a mythological creature phase, but over the years a unicorn always seemed to sneak its way into her sketchbook. Robin had yet to forget the day Jinx had exploded a pie in his face because he had shamelessly laughed at her odd muse.

An amused smile stretched across Robin's face when he flipped past an equine sporting a horn among the sketches pages, but it faded as he continued to turn the pages, and Jinx continued reminiscing aloud.

"Lucky for me, Zatanna and her friend were supervising because one day I looked too far and looked into my future. Whatever I saw scared me, and I lost control. Zatanna had to lock away the memory of what I saw in order to spare my mind."

A dark sky filled with rectangles hanging over a single platform, a Tower standing tall on an island in the middle of a bay with the sun setting behind it. A white lightning bolt, the only defined image amidst a black blur. A rose.

"Zee's friend told me not to mess with time 'cause it would fry my brains. It almost did. The information overload would have either left me insane or catatonic, so the connection was severed, and I forgot. But occasionally I remember something I saw after the event takes place at its proper time. I always get the strongest sense of déjà vu, so I draw."

Robin hovered over a picture of a lone girl, glowing with power, and her arms outstretched as she stood atop a mountain of rock, and lava flowed around her.

"You knew about Terra."

A listless shrug and a look of sadness dulling Jinx's eyes confirmed his assumption. "After it happened, yes."

For a moment more, Robin remained looking on the page before flipping forward toward Jinx's latest drawing, a lean, muscular teen bearing a single eye on his forehead surrounded by convenience store shelves. See-more.

Despite her moaning, whining, and pity party, Jinx hadn't lost the strange air she had gained after her encounter with the HIVE . The plotting to neutralize Kid's influence on her life (which included a magical bargain, a purloined necklace, many bitter memories,-Jinx had yet to forgive the boy who had ruined her first approved vacation- and a curse which doubled as a tracking spell), and the completion of the task hadn't dispelled the air either. A newfound resolve and determination had settled on Jinx's shoulders, and the HIVE trio was responsible.

A part of Robin wanted to sigh in defeat. He knew that look. He had seen that look in many faces, in Bruce's face when the Bat signal lit up the Gotham night and in Cyborg's when the name Brother Blood came up. The look appeared in the mirror as he thought of Slade. During all the years he had know Jinx he had seen many airs attached to her. Her scheming mischief after she "snuck" into the Wayne Manor again. The quiet longing as she made him recount, again, his school day. A restless energy and small fear hovering just beneath the surface that would only appear whenever she thought about why she couldn't leave Shadowcrest for six years. And finally the boundless joy when she hugged him inside of the Tower, free at last.

In his own way, he wished she had never come to this decision to follow in the footsteps of her mentor and best friend. Jinx had made a decision to take a stand, and of all the people he knew who deserved happiness and a normal life, Robin wished she had it.

But the rest of him was glad, pleased another had chosen to fight those who would break everything good, and protect the innocent. He knew the path she had chosen wouldn't be filled with fun and games. He could name shadows from his life. But for every shadow there were bright lights to keep the darkness at bay. As a member of the Bat family, rebellious apprentice or not, Robin had lights in Gotham to shine for him, and in Jump City he had the Titans, his friends. They had done impossible things with their bonds of friendship and would continue to do so. If Jinx chose to walk the path of her friend and mentor, then Robin would gladly share his lights with her.

Closing the sketchbook, he passed it back to Jinx and smiled. Congratulations are needed for tricking Kid. After all our experience with the HIVE 5, none of us have managed to catch Kid, much less place a means of tracking on him, so I talked with the rest of the Titans, and we all agree."

At the curious crinkle of her brow, Robin grinned and put Jinx out of her misery. "You are the official babysitter of Jump City whenever the Titans are unable to defend it."

She had to get her field experience from somewhere, after all.

* * *

Prompt: broken


	56. Pizza

**A/N 5-19-11:** Maybe this brief snapshot of Titan life will lighten my readers days. I've been wanting to write this chapter ever since the phrase 'Have you _met_ his mentor?' entered my head. Looking a few chapters ahead I have been experimenting with incorporating Jinx with an established episode from the fourth season without Sueifying her involvement; it's and interesting exercise, plus it develops Jinx more abilitywise. Happy Reading!

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Chapter 56: Pizza

Robin's announcement had only been the unofficial announcement. The official announcement included all five Titans and a lot of pizza. On the bright side, Jinx now possessed her own Titans communicator and had been unanimously voted into her _position_. On the negative side, her official title was The Honorary Probationary Titan Jump City Babysitter, and her vacation was her trial period. If she didn't pass muster once she left, then the Titans would have someone else watch the city while they were unable to complete their roles as its protectors. Robin had all faith in her skills and abilities, but somehow, sitting at the round pizza table surrounded by Titans, Jinx didn't quite match his enthusiasm.

The fragile shell of awkwardness was conquered once Jinx was begged for stories about Robin from preTitan days. When she asked why they'd want to hear about those days, Beast Boy had responded, " 'Cause he's Robin. I want to know if he's always been this cool."

"Cool?" Jinx asked, amused, and she arched an eyebrow at Robin. Robin had never been "cool" to her. Sure she respected his acrobatic, detective, and fighting skills and had been grateful for his friendship. But Robin had always been Robin to her. Besides there were some memorable quotes back from Robin's younger, impressionable years before he had perfected his "cool speak" that made her wonder at times.

"I suppose," she answered between pizza bites, "If you include corny somewhere in that sentence."

She quickly began eating again because if the horrified look on Beast Boy's face (the kicked puppy, you're eating meat face) was a clear indicator, than Robin's tarnished honor was about to defended.

Sure enough, Beast Boy obliged. Shooting to his feet, he mounted his stool like he would a soap box. "Dude! Robin has always been and will always be cool!" and for a brief moment, Jinx remembered one of said memorable quotes:_ 'Holy Sparklers! Crooks coming out of that jewelry store!'_

"He's so cool," Beast Boy continued, "that every Titan here would love to be him and has been!" Sticking a finger in her face he ended with, "So there."

"Uh, Beast Boy," Robin started, but the warning came a moment to late when Jinx's eyes glowed an angered pink, and a piece of pepperoni pizza attached itself to Beast Boy's face. With a shrill, "Gah!" and flailing of arms, Beast Boy fell back in his seat, and Jinx continued eating calmly.

"Has been?" she asked and noted the faint flush that began gracing the faces of the Titans, save Robin and Beast Boy (who was engaged in an epic duel for his face).

"Yeah," Robin replied. "I came home from a journey and found them wearing my spare costumes."

At this statement, Jinx's draw dropped, and she gaped in horror.

"You dressed up like Robin?" she squeaked.

Cyborg found the courage to answer and shrugged while rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, yeah. It was fun."

"Oh yes," Starfire agreed. "It was most glorious." At Jinx's dropped jaw and persistent shock, Starfire gently asked, "Friend Jinx? Are you the oh-kay?"

Recollecting herself, Jinx snapped her jaw shut before finally answering. "You dressed up like Robin because it was _fun_?"

With a cry of triumph, Beast Boy dislodged the pizza slice and glared at it vehemently. Off to the side an amused Robin followed the conversation, and Raven finally tore herself from her book to answer the newcomer's question.

"It was an embarrassingly childish insanity brought on from the extended absence of a team member. Why?" she challenged.

"It's just," Jinx stammered before her shock finally helped her focus her thoughts. "Have you _seen_ his original costume? I do call him Shortpants for a reason."

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Prompt: Shells


	57. Periphery

**A/N 5-26-11:** Well, first the disclaimer. Last chapter's quote "Holy Sparklers" was a genuine DC Comics Robin quote that was so precious I had to integrate it into DTRH. This Chapter highlights different events from episodes inTeen Titans Season 4: Troq-where the Titans go into outer space with a metallic, prejudiced alien, Employee of the Month-where Beast Boy gets a part time job in order to save up for a moped during the Titans UFO stakeouts. Since Jinx appeared during the middle of Cyborg the Barbarian (where Cyborg gets yanked back thousands of years into the past) this chapter merely describes her role in the established episodes events and how she settles in working with the Titans.

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Chapter 57: Periphery

As Jump City's Honorary Probationary Baby Sitter (a name Jinx highly suspected Beast Boy and Starfire collaborated in creating with just a dash of oversight from Raven), Jinx spent a lot of time in the middle of Jump City. Usually she had a partner with her, a Titan partner. Her first "training" run in the city had been with Robin, but ever since the first time she had rotated through the team. Robin, of course, held the top of her favorites list followed by Cyborg and Starfire. Those three proved most sociable and friendly. As for the remaining two Titans, they'd been working through their issues. Beast Boy had the horrible tendency of dissolving into inane chatter which particularly irked Jinx to no end. At times Jinx would mentally scold herself that no, Beast Boy did not annoy her because he reminded her of any immature, childish idiots she had met. No, Beast Boy's childishness and immaturity drove her mad. But beneath the green skin and prattle lay a loyal, caring heart, not that Jinx would tell Beast Boy any time soon.

Jinx's discovery of Beast Boy's merits had merely been enough to cool her regular annoyance with him and allow them to find a truce. Beast Boy had the potential for greatness, for that she held back. Oddly enough the truce centered on pitting Jinx's years of firsthand experience with Robin against Beast Boy's long held admiration. Their quibbles generally ran along the same lines as their argument at the pizzareria ending with Jinx horrifically asking, "Have you _met_ his mentor?" or some variation.

As for Jinx and Raven, the two sorceresses acclimation had taken longer to settle. Raven, as far as Jinx could tell, was naturally secretive and suspicious of everyone, and the two were far too alike for them not to step on each others' toes. Magicians, and other magic users, Jinx reflected, respected their peers territory, usually; therefore, Jinx had been forced by sheer etiquette to ask Raven if she could spell different reflective surfaces across the city so that she, Jinx, the flightless wonder had fast transportation to scenes of emergency. Raven's agreement had only come after a thoroughly prepared logical argument, Robin's support in Jinx's favor, and (ugh, Jinx still shuddered to remember it) swearing a magical oath that she wouldn't betray the Titans in thought, deed or action. But the pair had formed an understanding. As the resident sorceress, Raven set the magical rules, Jinx heeded them, and the two coexisted relatively peacefully.

If Robin hadn't pulled Jinx off to the side shortly after her promotion to warn her about Raven's paranoia and to tell Jinx to play nice, then Jinx wouldn't have been as well behaved. Well, Zatanna's influence would have her acting somewhat well behaved, but Jinx knew that even with the respect she would have given Raven as the resident sorceress, Jinx would still have found ways to push Raven's buttons just for fun. At times Jinx was glad for the promise of good behavior that she had made, for at times she would pick up a vibe off Raven, a magical sense that wasn't quite normal for a member of the homo magi to hold. If pressed to describe the sensation further, Jinx would say the sensation felt unnatural. But in the end as long as Jinx respected Raven's privacy and didn't trod on her toes too often, she could use her hexes to whatever ends she wished.

With the mediating presence of the Titans escorting Jinx about and including her in their fights against crime, Jump City began to accept Jinx if not as a Titan, then as an ally of the Titans and thus a friend of their city. Their welcome proved the most wonderful experience of her visit. She was free, and she was helping people, and they _liked_ her. The city seemed to embrace her, she was learning so much and taking a stand and preventing wrongs and terror, and they liked her.

Somehow along her journey, Jinx found herself on her own watching over Jump City as the Titans staked out cattle herds for UFO sightings. A bit of a wacky circumstance, but she was dashing about in her platform shoes, pink hair pulled up into the devil horn style she'd grown fond of, and every now and then she'd catch a glimpse of the Titans chasing after a UFO in the skies, while she watched from the streets below. When Beast Boy finally landed a job right during the middle of the cow abduction stakeout, she had popped in and visited the changeling at Mega Meaty Meat to commiserate over their absence from Titan activities. Jinx had completely missed the tofu alien invasion downtown, but that was mainly Kid's fault.

If Jinx had ever thought Kid a completely sinister buffoon before, then he only seemed to reaffirm her opinions. For a boy that had a magical tracking spell slapped on his back he never seemed to tire of popping up unexpectedly, or appearing when he was most unwanted. What was the point of Jinx being able to locate his exact location on a map, spontaneously spit his GPS coordinates, or pick him out of a crowd if whenever the wind blew right or the whim struck him, he would zip over, plant himself right in front of her and smile? Of course, she supposed she should be grateful that he would just stop in front of her and smile. There had been the one time he had popped in front of her, pumped her arm, pulled her into a hug and kissed her on the forehead all while thanking her enthusiastically. He had regretted it, for the hex Jinx sent still left him reflexively dodging whenever he popped in to say hello.

Kid popping in to say hello occurred whenever Jinx was out solo in the city by herself, or when the Titans were off planet (like the time when the metallic alien and his ship had landed on the Titans Island). Quite simply, Kid had proclaimed himself her arch nemesis ("As if," she had sneered) and had the unpleasant power of bringing out the worst in Jinx.

Kid was persistent, annoying and made her blood boil. But as much as Jinx despised and loathed Kid and his inability to take "No," and "Leave me alone or else" at face value (without saying "Or else what exactly?" while calmly surveying his nails a self satisfied smirk on his face), he finally managed to truly surprise her the day she met Slade face to face.

* * *

Prompt: Tendency


	58. Mirror, Mirror

A/**N 6-2-11:** Wow, writing-wise I'm almost at the end of the I hate you arc, which I find remarkable. Anyhoo, rambling aside, this chapter, and the following two occur, during the established events of The Prophecy- where the Titans search for information on Slade and a mysterious prophecy centered around an equally mysterious gem, and how Jinx fits into this tale and has an adventure of her own. Also, Cyborg's quote addressed to Robin comes straight from the episode itself.

* * *

Chapter 58: Mirror, Mirror

One of the more shocking revelations Jinx learned during her stay with the Titans included the fact that Slade lived. If Robin hadn't showed her the video of the fight unveiling Slade's return, she wouldn't have believed him. Slade was dead after all. You couldn't get deader then burned alive by lava, but as the apprentice of one of the JL's foremost magician, Jinx also knew death wasn't as great an obstacle as it seemed. Retaining the soul during the process of rebirth tended to be a harder task to accomplish, but from what Jinx knew of Slade, she didn't think he had much of a soul to begin with.

Between patrols, the UFOs, and sightseeing Jinx found herself hitting the books alongside the rest of the Titans trying to discover the significance of the symbol on Slade's mask. However, Jinx had noticed that no matter how much time she had present with the Titans there still seemed to be a distinction between her and the team. Of course, logically, she perfectly understood why such a feeling existed. The Titans were a well oiled machine, a true team, a group of individuals who knew how to assist and fight alongside their teammates in pursuit of a common goal, and the Titans had been teammates and endured the extraordinary together. Even as an honorary Titan, Jinx knew she was just passing through, a visitor.

But even as a visitor, the Titans truly seemed to want to include her in their lives while they helped her learn the ropes of being a heroine. At times the distance between Jinx and the Titans would shrink and fade away to such a point where Jinx could forget her life consisted of anything except the Titans, but then, reality would assert itself, such as it did when the Tower alert went off and Slade's insignia hovered over a section of the city.

The Titans had jumped to the proverbial battle stations, and dashing for the T-car when someone froze mid-step, and then Jinx found a hesitant Beast Boy, Starfire, and slightly uncomfortable Cyborg peering at her (the two birds of the team, Robin and Raven, remained resolute and remote, respectively).

"Don't mind me," Jinx monotone and brought her tome, borrowed, grudgingly, from Raven closer to her face. "I'll be back-up," she finished. After seeing Robin's confirming nod, the Titans split for the scene of the crime, and Jinx sighed.

All the research had been driving her stir crazy. Plus, Robin had descended into his workaholic/obsessive state he only ever seemed to drop into when two individuals exerted pressure in his life, Slade and Batman. Of course, her contributions to demystifying Slade's mark hadn't been tremendous. Zatanna had steered Jinx away from the darker arts of the mystic studies, and flat out discouraged dark magic (always with the valid reasoning Jinx's powers left her vulnerable to corruption and heavy prices such magic came with). The consolation was Slade, once again, had everyone baffled, so Jinx didn't feel too entirely useless. At least until Slade made a move in Jump, like he just had, because clearly Jinx transformed from being an ally and friend but a liability.

Closing the tome with an echoing thud, Jinx slid it across the table from her, rose to monitor the Titans communicator, and pull up video feeds from the surrounding areas around the encounter.

She should have known. Something should have tipped her off, whether it was the blatant toying Slade showed the Titans, or maybe the giant flaming S should have clued Jinx in to the majorly, bad idea it would be to follow the Titans into the city. Regardless, abandoned library found Robin called in reinforcements, namely Jinx, and she arrived just in time to collide with a rapidly fleeing the library Raven.

"Raven, wait!"

A frigid look, which would have frozen lesser women's souls, was all the regard Raven spared for Jinx before rushing away, disappearing into the shadows. A hand appeared before her, a green gloved hand, which Jinx gratefully accepted, and Robin pulled her to her feet. Dusting off her dress she assessed the look on Robin's face. Sometimes Robin cared too much Jinx supposed, but she wouldn't have him another way.

"You ok?" she asked, all the while knowing that as long as one of his friends remained distressed he wouldn't be "ok". But still the question needed to be asked, and the choice posed.

"Yeah." He turned and descended down the stairs in the strange library.

"Robin, where is Raven?" drifted up Starfire's voice.

"She's not coming," Robin answered, and Jinx trailed behind inwardly wincing at the undertone coloring his words. Her first outing with the Titans and they were a Titan short and the mood as dark as pitch. All in all, not a bad start to an adventure. The start of the road that led to Zatanna had started with explosions, Jinx remembered. Pursuing a mystery in underground catacombs beneath a library had a much more promising end.

The spiraling staircase descending into the endless abyss proved cool. Everyone walked down the stairs, a nice change when three of the Titans had aerial capabilities and Jinx didn't. Of course, the legion of skeletal wraiths bearing glaives was an adrenaline hitch along with the fact the creatures proved insubstantial and determined. The sudden swarm pushed the Titans into action. As soon as the reality that while they couldn't hit the wraiths, but the wraiths could hit them sunk in, well the trip down the stairs became a lot more lethal than Jinx first expected.

After her fist hexes proved detrimental to the integrity of the stair's architecture, Jinx fell back beside Starfire and fended off whatever creepily glowing ghoul managed to bypass Starfire's beams of solar energy. Talking proved an unnecessary distraction until the moment Robin decided that a strategic retreat was needed and ordered the Titans followed him over the edge of the stairs and straight down into open space. Beast Boy and Starfire jumped after him right away, and Jinx watched the green pterodactyl and flight gifted alien girl longingly as her mind raced with thoughts of how she could pull off jumping into gravity's waiting arms without killing herself. Beside her Cyborg, her fellow landbound buddy, voiced her objections quite eloquently.

"Uh, maybe you didn't get the memo Robin, you and me can't fly!"

Reaching down into the interior of her platform shoes, Jinx retrieved two small rectangular objects, saluted Cyborg, and hurtled over the edge. Whether it was Jinx's shining example of a leap of flightless faith or the swarm of wraiths closing in, Cyborg cannonballed after his team, and the five fell past the winding stairs, a posse of glowing blue spirits following in their wake. Fortunately enough for Jinx, she was just far enough behind Robin's lead to catch sight of him rappelling toward a passage marked with the strange S.

A quick flick and one small compact mirror slid onto the stairs by Robin and Beast Boy's feet even as Jinx hurtled past the platform. The eerie sensation of an empty hole right where her stomach should be coupled with the adrenaline pouring through her system briefly phased Jinx. The blood rushing to her head did prove distracting, but for once Jinx was thankful for the fact having an acrobatic best friend, the ward of an eccentric billionaire, meant she'd run simulations where leaping into open space and having to formulate a safe landing had trained her to keep her head in such situations. The training gave her a fighting chance to avoid becoming a splatter across the bottom of the stairs if she was lucky. Flipping open the second travel size, compact mirror Jinx carried along with half a dozen others stand in hidden pockets inside her compact boots and spoke the spells command.

"Nepo!"

The mirror's edges flared with pink energy, and Jinx thrust her hand inside and bit her lip at the jarring sensation of having her entire body being magically sucked through a three by three inch mirror and hurled out, like a troubled stomach's vomit out the end of the paired compact mirror. Shooting out of the receiving mirror, Jinx restrained a squeak as muscle memory had her coiling her body into an appropriate crouch. Her body barely had a moment to rest before she lurched to her feet and darted through the open passageway before her, following the backs of Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg consciously aware of the unearthly wails of the spirits nipping at her heels. She pulled ahead just enough ahead to be running just at Cyborg's heels when Robin detonated the passageway shut behind them. She skidded to a stop beside Beast Boy and the rest when the passage split into three. The continued rushing of the blood from her head to the rest of her body left her dazed into silence while Beast Boy asked "Which way is the gem?"

At Robin's direction the running continued forward through the door bearing the mysterious mark and down onto descending stairs to another split. Beast Boy darted off down a middle passage and Jinx hovered behind the Titans another mirror in her hand and pink energy glaring in her eyes as she focused on sending short range concussion blasts without bringing the ceiling down. As the sheer numbers of the spirits pushed the Titans back, Jinx's mind raced even as Beast Boy emerged chased by another swarm of spirits.

Pink eyes narrowed and determination clicked into place as Jinx surveyed the scene around her. The Titans needed to get to the bottom of the gem business, and they couldn't do so do so as mincemeat courtesy of the guardian spirits haunting the passages.

"You guys keep going, I'll hold them off," she yelled, and she twirled forefront placing herself directly between the spirits and the Titans.

At Robin's irritated and protective tone Jinx flashed the compact mirror in her hand at him, reminding him of the fact she had an immediate bolt hole.

"Go!" she yelled, and added an extra sting into her hexes, the seductive, dark tang that made her manipulation of probabilities centered so that all the bad luck in the room centered on her.

Robin's shout of "This way!" was all Jinx needed to hear to know the remnants of the Titans had moved on, and the glowing blue hordes circling around her was all the indication Jinx needed that her natural bad luck magnet had outperformed itself again.

"Alright," she purred, calmly blasted a hole through the circle with a handy hex, and darted off the corridor furthest to the left. "Follow the birdy!" she taunted, and she dashed into the shadows. Arms trailing behind her, Jinx felt wisps of unnaturally cold air graze her fingers and chill her blood. Digging down deep to bring out that extra effort, Jinx forged ahead slowly gaining inches between herself and the host chasing her. An old lesson drifted to the surface about spirits and how to fight past their mental influence. Mind over matter Zatanna had said, so the thoughts Jinx consciously focused on as she dashed down the passage way focused on objects of happiness and light: freedom, friendship, unicorns. All the while her fingers unfurled her solitary paired compact mirror.

She liked to call these particular mirrors two ways. Each pair of compact mirrors had a one way direct route to its pair. Enter mirror A and she would immediately exit A's partner. The particular mirror in her hand connected to a compact she had left inside her guest room at Titans' Tower, her rabbit hole away from this nightmare. The right word to activate the link, and she would be gone.

Flinging the mirror out in front of her path, the compact skidded along the floor, and as Jinx spoke the magic word, "Moor!" mid-dive into the mirror the spirits nipping at her ankles, a new voice entered the equation coupled with a dark influence that immediately had her mirror flaring with red flames.

"You don't belong here."

Flames roared up out of the mirror consuming Jinx. Twisting the portal and passageway so that Jinx toppled out of the mirror at the feet of the one man the Titans had determinedly searched for.

Slade.

* * *

Prompt: Unicorns


	59. Sight

**A/N 6-9-11**: Quiet day suited for quiet editing and writing. This chapter was a bit of a surprise writing, but if someone can be brought back from the dead and work underneath a demon, then why can't they be used for foreshadowing?

* * *

Chapter 59: Sight

Jinx's first thought as her hands and knees dug into the cold stone floor marveled that the fire hadn't hurt her. Either the flames that had flared up, embraced her, and transported her to her current location were harmless, an unlikely reality, or Slade didn't intend to harm her. With a deep breath Jinx jumped to her feet and backed away as she quickly took in her surroundings. Dark blue stone walls towered above her, and the vastness of the room coupled with its complete emptiness magnified the proportions significantly. Unadorned walls framed the one factor which snapped Jinx out of her stupor and back into action: a tall, muscular figure wearing predominately black and a half black, half orange mask. One glimpse of him, the man behind Terra and Robin's forced apprenticeship, and she was diving into her boot searching for the unpaired mirror that simply allowed her to jump inside the Mirror Realm and her magical network of connections.

"There's no need for that," Slade said and with a gesture the strange S appeared reflected in the glass causing the mirror to crack and shattering it in her very hands. "I just want to talk."

With a hiss of fury, Jinx flung the mirror shards at Slade's mask and flipped backwards before sending an earth-shattering hex to the ground surrounding Slade's feet. Immediately after firing off her first strike, she flitted from point to point in a large circle around Slade, and ignoring the twinging in her hands as broken glass met her hands whenever she drew a mirror from her boot or sleeve. Apparently, the mysterious S had shattered all her mirrors leaving only shards for her to contend with, and Slade, well, after her opening rally, he had leaped into the air and out of range of destruction. Pity.

Shoulders and back hunched forward giving him a posture worthy of Quasimodo, Slade, after initially dodging Jinx's attack merely tracked her progress outside of the range and the blast zone, and finally, Jinx drew to a wary stop, half satisfied a crater the size of the base of Titans Tower separating her from the newly pyrokinetic.

"What do you want form me?" she asked her voice carrying clearly in the quiet expanse between them. Arms hanging loosely at her side and eyes narrowed, Jinx hovered at the edge of using her magic. "What's that mark on your mask mean?"

"Now, now Jinx," Slade chided, gaze wide and far from human. His voice too carried across the crater, and Jinx could only wonder if he was employing some strange magic; she could hear him as clearly as if they spoke face to face. "I have a previous engagement I can only answer one of your questions."

"Why are you here?" Jinx asked, and stiffened at the resulting mocking laughter filling the air as he recognized her compromise. Looking across the crater, Jinx found Slade's mad gaze robbed of any humanity from his hunched form. The hunched figure before her resembled a zombie from the horror movies Beast Boy was so found of, and not Victor Hugo's hunchback.

"Out of all the pieces falling into place, yours is the piece that doesn't belong. Working for my _employer_ opened my eyes to revelations most wouldn't dream possible." For a soul quaking moment, Slade caught and held Jinx's gaze, and the knowledge burning in his eyes sent fine tremors darting through her body. Her grey skin went white.

"You have the power to destroy lives, Jinx. With a mere thought opportunities are lost, happiness vanishes, and all decays and withers." Head cocking at an impossible angle, he continued, "You have such dreadful potential."

With a shaky breath, Jinx managed a retort. A notable achievement with her eyes still trapped in Slade's. "My powers don't define who I am."

"Do they Jinx? Do they really?" Slade's caressing tone oozed the words out, and swallowing the lump in her throat, Jinx gasped and flinched at the irrefutable presence of Slade inches away and a crater closer then he should. A stumbling step backwards stopped when he leaned in. Somehow, despite everything Robin had ever warned her about Slade, Jinx froze and came to the cold conclusion that the figure before her spoke the truth. Grabbing her left hand, a flame appeared in his pointer finger which danced across the top of her hand. "You should be grateful all will end before your potential is ever discovered."

Then he was a crater away again, but Jinx, eyes wide and breathing shallow, still remained frozen, held rapt in his finely worded thrall. "While the gem shall destroy all through fire, not even ice would suffice for the terror _you_ would bring."

Finally with a languid blink, the spell broke, and Jinx screamed as pain suddenly roared into her awareness. Snatching her throbbing hand to her chest, she shot back, "Leave me alone!" knowing as soon as she said it how fruitless her plea would prove.

She had to get out of here, wherever the empty room stood before it became her tomb, and fortunately, she actually stood a slim chance. Her good right hand darted into her boot, and she pulled her last mirror fragment and fisted it tightly until blood dripped from her good hand. She had to get out, and as eyes darted around the circular trail of mirror fragments she had laid and now stood in the exact center, she knew she might be able to succeed.

Squeezing the shard tighter, a ragged cry tore from her throat, and the broken mirror shards flared a tainted red-pink in response. "Pleh em!" she cried, and almost cried in relief as the shard in her hand sucked her into the Mirror Realm.

She fell. Bloody, pale as a ghost and shaken to her soul, Jinx toppled through the Mirror Realm headed toward an unknown destination. Mirrors blurred by Jinx's spiral only took her to a place she would be safe. A place she could be helped.

She hoped she would be taken to Shadowcrest. She would give anything to see Zatanna, and she desperately needed to talk to Cassandra in order to find some way to pacify the dread gripping her soul. If not Shadowcrest, then Jinx wished for the Titans, her second safety net, and if not the Titans, then a friend. An overpowering tremor and desperate need for a comforting hug wracked through her, but as Jinx tumbled through a mirror she found herself barreling through open space in neither of the places she desired. As it was she ended up falling from midair right into the arms of the last person on the planet she wished to see.

Kid.

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Prompt: Fruitless


	60. Bandages

**A/N 6-16-11**: An outside look at how Jinx emerges from her encounter with Slade. And a few chapters in the future goodbyes are extracted while paths diverge once again.

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-Chapter 60: Bandages

Life for the remnants of the HIVE 5 remained subdued. With the upper ranks imprisoned, Kid had inherited the reigns of command over all free agents, which consisted of himself and Private HIVE. Sadly, with the majority of the HIVE's power benched, Kid and Private HIVE couldn't pull off any grand heists efficiently. Misdemeanor activities and anarchic behavior occurred as free agents, but ever since Slade had moved in everyone who consisted of Jump's underworld had backed off and tread with caution. Slade's influence on Jump City's criminal scene remained enormous, and now that the rumors of his return coincided with the Titans digging around with their contacts, the HIVE knew the rumors of Slade's death had been greatly exaggerated, and that Slade's return was not only real but unsettling.

Rumor had it that Slade was working for someone else. Who, no one knew, not even the Titans. Kid wouldn't guess, but that didn't stop others from guessing. Some hypothesized a mob boss from the Gotham had decided to expand their business transcontinental and had sought an alliance. Others thought that Slade merely postured while orchestrating another master plan to topple the Titans and bring the city to its knees while secretly training a new apprentice. Others whispered Slade wanted Raven as his new apprentice and sought to corrupt her.

Kid didn't give much credence to the rumors, but if Slade was working for someone, then his boss had to be a pretty remarkable and shady individual, for Slade only looked out for and obeyed one person's orders, his own. Kid shuddered to imagine what formidable being could manage to willingly employ Slade.

Given the current status in the underground and sparse numbers of HIVE 5 individuals, Kid had been forced to follow established protocol. Whenever a dominant criminal force loomed then the HIVE leadership would determine the extremity of HIVE activity. As acting HIVE leader, Kid kept all activities to petty crimes on the periphery of police and Titan notice. Any contact with outside criminal alliances was prohibited. In short, Private HIVE and Kid kept their heads down and noses out of any major criminal activity in order to ensure the survival of the HIVE. Also in the event that established HIVE command became incapable of carrying out their duties, and numbers of operatives proved inadequate for carrying out normal HIVE activities, acting command had free reign to remedy the situation as they saw fit. For Kid that meant recruitment. He had feelers out, and had looked at flagged HIVE members See-more and Co. had approved of and schoolmates he had personally known.

Of course, just because he was acting leader of the HIVE 5 and had given the orders to keep a low criminal profile didn't mean all forms of fun were forbidden. The warehouse he stood in proved that. Arms folded across his chest, Kid surveyed his handiwork proudly. A legion of glittering cylinders proudly filled the room with only space left for narrow walkways. There were hundreds maybe even thousands segmented into row and company, and hundreds more hanging in nets from the rafters. So many cans of spray paint, so little surface area in Jump City, but Kid had all the time in the world to paint the city in his colors.

Some of the blessings of being able to run at the speeds Kid could achieve meant that not only could he pain the city in under a minute, but it also meant his reflexes, honed to respond at such speeds where everything just froze, were topnotch. So, the sudden appearance of Jinx falling from the ceiling of the warehouse had Kid running, spreading his arms, and catching the pink-haired sorceress while greeting her warmly.

"Hey Jinx! I knew you couldn't resist," here he trailed off and a frown replaced his cheeky grin as he properly looked at Jinx. For a moment, in mere mortals' time, Jinx didn't quite seem to know where she was, or who exactly had caught her. Dilated black pupils dominated the pink in her eyes, and she sluggishly blinked up at him, the persistent pink blush on her cheeks gone, and her skin paler then grey skin ought to be. All her clothing remained intact, but Kid didn't like the look of her hands, or the suspiciously red liquid dripping from her fingertips.

"Jinx?" Kid asked, a gentler tone employed for the suddenly delicate state his fearless foe had appeared in. At her name the distance and mistiness in her eyes cleared leaving an alert but drained girl looking up at him.

"Kid," she said; however, the usual confidence in her tone dwindled at the end twisting the statement into a question.

"That's me," Kid replied and smiled at her. She blinked and finally looked around her, another sure sign that something was wrong. For all the time Kid had known Jinx, she had always remained aware of her surroundings. Now the fact that Kid had his arms encircled around Jinx and holding her seemed to register and an old, comforting spark returned to Jinx's eyes.

"Put me down," she said without any of her customary rancor or annoyance.

"Yes ma'am," Kid responded and eased her to her feet. Frowning, he watched her sway then stumble a few steps on her own, but he didn't offer any additional assistance.

"What happened?" he asked.

Head swiveling to look at him, Jinx blurted out the first thing that came to mind, or Kid supposed, since she didn't seem to be in any state to provide witty banter or clever manipulation of conversation.

"What's up with the air balloons?"

For once, Kid was speechless of coherent thought.

"The what?" he asked, but Jinx instead seemed to be fascinated with the warehouse ceiling. Head tilted back at an angle uncomfortable to look at, she stared intently at the roof.

"Oh, a mirror," she said, and squinted up at the ceiling again as if insulted with the mirror's presence. "That makes some sense." She proceeded to turn and cock her head at Kid again. "But you don't." she finished. "Answer my question," she demanded.

"About the air balloons?" Kid asked.

"Air balloons? No, about the spray paint. What do you need so many for?"

Shoving aside the mental process that attempted to connect how spray paint cans led to air balloons, Kid switched tactics. Keeping his hands in sight, he slowly walked toward Jinx.

"Are you bleeding?" he asked, eyes darting from Jinx's hands to a small cluster of red liquid on the warehouse floor. Revelation swept across Jinx's face, and she lifted the palms of her hands up close to her face as she clearly remembered something wasn't quite right. Her mouth formed a tiny "oh". Head snapping back and eyes widening, Jinx flinched, then proceeded to glare fiercely at Kid.

"What are you doing here?"

While the return of feisty Jinx should have assuaged Kid's lingering concern at the fragile imposter who had fallen into his arms, he refused to be mollified. In fact, insulted seemed to more closely attest to how Kid felt at the sudden change in conversation.

"I'm plotting a nefarious scheme," he deadpanned. "Or at least I was until my pink-haired nemesis dropped from the ceiling and into my arms. Now, while I wouldn't complain about beautiful women dropping from the heavens, why are you bleeding on my floor?"

Hands lifted again, curling inward, and Jinx paled. "I shouldn't be here," she muttered, as she stooped to root around the inside of her boots, Kid gained a better view of one of her hands, and at the sight of a slightly glowing S, Kid could only wonder how he missed it before.

Before she could blink, the air Kid displaced from crossing the distance to Jinx ruffled her hair, and she finished blinking to find her hands cradled as Kid carefully examined them. The eerie similarity between his and Slade's movements kicked well honed defensive memory into play, and Kid could only yelp as he sailed over her shoulder and crashed into the ranks of his spray paint cans. The loud metallic clatter banished the fear from Jinx's eyes and brought her back from the past.

"Don't do that," she yelled, cheeks burning a furious pink.

Jackknifing back up Kid shook his head, sped over, and planted himself under Jinx's nose.

"What, this?" he asked.

She punched him, and froze as Kid caught her hand then squeezed her wrist, forcing her hand to bend, so he could unfurl her fingers and properly examine her left hand. Bangs fluttering from another gust of wind, Jinx found Kid with a white box reading First Aid and a red cross adorning its center.

"Sit down," he said calmly. At the hostile glare, and her finite stiffening, he sighed. "Jinx," he said, and somehow Jinx found herself hating the sincerity in his actions. "I'm trying to help."

With a huff, she primly lowered herself to the ground and let Kid take her hands. They sat in silence for the longest time. Shockingly, Kid worked without the usually banal chatter as he focused on methodically extracting shards of glass from Jinx's hands with tweezers and a magnifying glass. Jinx eyed him warily. Only after he had finished wrapping her right hand with bandages and had moved to extracting glass and sterilizing the cuts on her left hand did she speak.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

She didn't really expect him to answer or at least not seriously, but despite these expectations, his lack of an answer and methodical progress irked her none the less. "West," she growled, mouth pursing and then he responded.

"Do you have to look a gift horse in the mouth?" he said without pausing in his slow but steady search for glass shards.

"When it's you, yes," she replied.

"Then do me a favor and don't throw around my surname so casually," Kid said as he soaked cotton balls with peroxide. "The walls have ears, you know."

"I know how to keep a secret," she snapped, than realizing his game, she resumed glaring at him. "Answer the question," she demanded and jerked jerked as the sting of peroxide hit her hands.

"Answer me this," he bargained, and he flipped Jinx's hand over to reveal the Mark Slade had burned into her skin. "What happened here?"

Jerking her chin upward, she replied, "Titan business." At the narrowing of Kid's white mask squares, she shrugged. "That's the truth."

"So the Titans shredded your hands with glass, branded you, and then caused you to fall out of a mirror shaking like a leaf." The heated fury in his voice changed to a reserved serious, a tone Jinx only heard when he abandoned his light hearted pretenses. He quietly continued. "You don't know what you're getting into. Fighting with Slade isn't for amateurs."

He internally winced at his choice in words. Jinx's shocked, indignant exclamation of "Amateur?" only proved his thoughts, but as fast as her temper flared up, it deflated as Jinx seemed to fold into herself. Examining the S on her hand, a sad smile crossed her lips as the mark began to fade to a faint pink.

"The mark's a magical wound, not physical," she admitted and submitted to having Kid wrap her hand. Once he finished, she admired the handiwork. "Amateur or not, someone had to do something, and why shouldn't that someone be me." Lowering her hand to her lap, she looked back to Kid. "Now why did you help me? We're enemies."

"Enemies," Kid said. "Are things always so black and white for Titans?" With a shrug he continued, "When the cat's away the rats will play."

"You're hardly a rat," Jinx remarked and raised an eyebrow.

Chuckling in agreement, Kid amended. "Fine, my claws are sheathed. I don't see why between the heists, Titan business, and you trying to catch me, we can't act as civil young adults and get along."

At the skeptical look on Jinx's face, Kid sighed. "I like being around you. I don't see why we can't be friends when I'm not trying to outwit you, believe it or not. So may I ask a question now?"

Although her physical cues said she wasn't completely mollified or in agreement with his reasoning, Jinx glanced down at the bandages on her hands then nodded. Pointing a gloved finger to the ceiling Kid asked, "Why me?"At her reticence, Kid decided a rambling explanation was needed to prod out an answer. "While my unceasing enjoyment of your company can't be argued, I also know that I'm not the first person you'd go to when injured, so why me?"

Taking a deep breath and wincing as if preparing for a blow to her pride, Jinx carefully answered, "I think it's because you're the only one who could help me at that moment."

Glaring at the giant smile blooming across Kid's face, Jinx hastily continued on. "Look, you're the last person I'd go to for help. You're annoying," here the smile began fading, "a delinquent, and I don't trust you. But," here she sighed, "the Titans were probably wrapped up with Slade. Za-, my teacher has busy supernatural activities she has to deal with, and the medium for my magic was corrupted, so the closest mirror took me to someone who would help me, _you_."

Somehow instead of sounding grateful or relieved, the _you_ came off as accusing, as if Jinx couldn't believe the gall Kid had in order to be someone who wanted to help her. At the word mirror, Kid's mind had returned to his last encounter with Jinx in a world of mirrors.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with that curse you put on me?" he asked. At Jinx's uncomfortable squirming, Kid found his answer. "How does that work?"

Although looking highly uncomfortable and annoyed, Jinx answered. "There is a bond between us which stretches across space and time. Since your speed gives you an undue advantage over me, I used the curse to place the bond so that when our paths crossed again, the bond would help me disable and catch you." Never mind the bond was merely a magical tracking spell on steroids. Jinx didn't want Kid to know that. Let him be scared. "Since the mirror that connects me to the Mirror Realm," and her network of magical mirrors, "was corrupted, the bond must have kicked in and dragged me to you."

At the thoughtful look on Kid's face, Jinx's stomach sunk. She knew that look. She had seen _that_ look the night Kid decided that he liked her. _That_ look meant Kid was looking at pieces of a puzzle and arranging them to form a biased conclusion for his benefit.

"So you were hurt and needed help, and our bond (she scoffed at the 'our') took you to me because I was the only one available to help you. But why come to me if you don't trust me?" he mused. Then his face lit up, and Jinx groaned in preparation for the next epiphany that would have Kid attached to her hip much like a leech. "The bond stretches across space and time, you said, so sometime, somewhere you trust me."

"West, that's a bit of a stretch even for you." Jinx coolly replied. "That's like saying something that happens in the future affects the past."

"But if something is temporally transcendent then it would," Kid wheedled. "Plus, you only call me West when you're mad at me."

At his triumphant grin, Jinx snorted and stood. "Well, if your arguments which only support my opinion that you're a nonsensical delinquent are quite finished, I'm going to find the nearest mirror and leave."

"No need," within another eye blink, Kid had come to stand before her. "I'll give you a lift."

"That's not necessary," Jinx replied, arms crossed and face stern.

"I insist," Kid said, and he stepped closer without breaking her gaze.

"A mirror will suffice," Jinx said then grimaced and shuddered. "West, please."

With a smile, he disappeared then skidded to a halt in front of her, a notebook sized mirror obviously pried from a wall in his hands. Taking the mirror, Jinx placed it on the ground and stepped on it.

"West, thanks," she said as her eyes flared, and she began sinking through the mirror's surface.

Kid shrugged, "No problem, I wanted to."

Another sigh, "I know." And the tips of her pink hair had vanished. With her passing the mirror cracked leaving a thoughtful Kid food for thought to ponder on.

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Prompt: Support


	61. Empathy

**A/N 6-23-11:** Writer's block, how I loathe thee. I wonder if anyone will catch the slightly melancholy end to this chapter.

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Chapter 61: Empathy

After tumbling out of a reflection in one of the windows in the Titans' main room, Jinx found the Titans regrouping after a successful, encounter with Slade. Jinx received many answers that night which in hindsight seemed obvious. For one, Raven had an unnatural magical vibe because she was half demon. Also, her father, the demon, was named Trigon, and she, Raven, was destined to serve as a portal to bring Trigon's reign of terror on the word, aka, the End of the world. And no, baptizing the demon with holy water would not obliterate him and prevent the end times.

Although Jinx did relate her unfortunate encounter with Slade to the Titans (and thus learned of the butt whoopin' Raven lay down) she carefully neglected to mention Slade's implication that she too could bring the end of the world, and Kid's help wrapping her hands. She also learned the name of the S adorning her hand, the mark of Scath, and the correlation between Scath and Trigon. Later in Jinx's room, Raven revealed exactly what Slade had done.

"It's a seal," Raven bluntly said. Blue healing energy flowed around Jinx's hands healing her cuts from the mirrors and causing Jinx's mark of Scath to glow red. "For now the seal's dormant, but when Scath comes, the seal will suppress you powers and bring your mind under Trigon's control."

At Jinx's look of alarm Raven soothed her. Well, as much as she soothed anyone. "While I can't break or remove his seal, I can alter it. When Trigon enters this realm and your seal activates, you'll be compelled to sleep for as long as his presence remains."

"How deep is this sleep?" Jinx asked.

"Comatose."

It was truly amazing how the deadpan neutral tone Raven used to deliver that word made Jinx want to laugh, and how she was not reassured at all.

"So it's either be a mindless drone or a vegetable." Rolling her eyes heavenward Jinx said, "I'll take the Sleeping Beauty option, then."

A moment passed where Jinx grew pensive as she remembered Slade's words.

"_You have the power to destroy lives…such dreadful potential."_

_While the gem shall destroy all through fire, not even ice would suffice for the terror you would bring."_

"Hey Raven," she asked, knees drawn up so her face could rest on the tops, "if you don't mind my asking, what did you do when you found out about your fate?"

Hood down, Raven's cool, violet eyes met Jinx's hesitant pink ones, and an understanding passed between them. "I joined the Titans."

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Prompt: Hindsight


	62. Reflection

**A/N 6-30-11:** Ah, an end of an arc, the I Hate You arc, and the fourth season. It feels odd concluding something that was planned so many months ago when it was only a burst of creativity and imagination weaving wonderful ideas in my head. After this arc is the interlude then The Getting to Know You arc in S5 followed by the finale.

Referenced episodes from Season 4 include Stranded, the wonderful episode with RobStar drama, rocket science and Sha-las! Overdrive whose summary Kid wonderfully narrates. Mother Mae-Eye in which a weird twist of Hansel and Gretel visits the Titans and a witch forces pies in them to fatten them up. And finally, the three episode finale, The End, is given a nod of recognition.

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Chapter 62: Reflection

Life continued for the Titans. Jinx found herself babysitting the city when the Titans responded to an emergency transmission from outerspace. The T-ship only had five compartments, although Cyborg had been constructing a sixth seat in one of the roomier compartments, but not in time for Jinx to tag along in response to the distress call. During the Titans absence Jinx learned why Kid had so many cans of spray paint when buildings in the city had suddenly turned black and white, and also, to archaeologists and historians greatest despair, the Egyptian Exhibit at the Jump City Museum as well.

The idiot responsible proved highly elusive even with Jinx's tracking spell and mirror jumping abilities, but Jinx's heart hadn't been into catching the idiot. Somehow she'd managed to develop the smallest of soft spots for the speedster. Also leaping from one side of the city to the other only to find Kid had returned to her point of origin proved both nauseating and dizzying. At times it seemed Kid toyed with her just to provoke a sharp spike in her temper and blood pressure.

With the Titans return, Kid had disappeared in to the city's underbelly only to emerge during the Titans unfortunate encounter with a brainwashing, pie-feeding, cannibalistic witch, Mother Mae-Eye. Thanks largely to Starfire's nine stomachs and a mutiny from the brainwashed Titans, Mother had been sealed back into the pie from which she'd come, and Jinx began to think of going home.

Jinx had first come to Jump City for three reasons. The first because she had unfinished magical business and a grudge to settle with Kid. While the magical business had been nicely concluded, Kid proved just as bewildering and unsettling in the present as he had in the past. Her second reason of coming to Jump City was to see Robin again. She had missed her friend and enjoyed the time shared among his Titans. But her third reason for coming to Jump lay in that she could. Now 17 Jinx was free to emerge into the public eye, so she had followed the strange calling by pursuing Kid and Robin, but now after weeks with the Titans, Jinx began to wonder if there was a different explanation for the yearning sensation and pull to Jump.

Since arriving in Jump she had found a purpose and ideal to dedicate her life, that of protection. Along the way, she had rekindled her childhood friendship with Robin and befriended the Titans, strong allies and noble friends all. But in between operating as Jump City's Honorary Probationary Titan Babysitter and learning the ropes in super heroics, Jinx had lost sight of a deeply buried question she hadn't often voiced.

Instead she tried to become a Titan, to move beyond the over-glorified babysitter position and to fit her new life in with Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven, but as she had discovered repeatedly throughout the duration of her stay, Jinx was not a Titan. An ally yes, and even an Honorary Titan, most certainly, but Jinx's path didn't lie entwined as the sixth member of the Jump City Titans. While her path ran parallel to the Titans and even interconnected, the Titans had their own story to tell which she would play a supporting role in, but those five bore the spotlight.

After Slade's blunt confrontation, Jinx had begun to realize that her current path needed more direction then aimless freedom. Jinx had questions, and she wanted answers. Answers which didn't currently lie in Jump. And the only lead she could think to begin for discovering her answers lay with an old friend of the Zatara family, the very seer who lay at the root of her biggest question: Why did I have to hide for so many years?

Other questions circulated around that question. What would have happened if I hadn't hid all those years ago? And the newest question she held tightly to, did I have to hide because of some terror I could bring?

Such thoughts of Slade's cryptic words and riddles left pits of unease into Jinx's thoughts. Her time in Jump was concluding. She had never intended to stay for an extended amount of time, only long enough to annoy Robin and remind him of the good old days. Besides, she still had to go on tour with either Zachary or Zatanna and then take Gotham by storm.

At breakfast one morning between bites of Cyborg's waffles and bacon, Jinx broached the subject with the Titans of her leaving.

"Hey Starfire," she began between sips of orange juice.

"Yes, friend Jinx?" Starfire piped brightly from over her pot; well, Jinx wasn't completely sure what the alien food Starfire was concocting, but it looked and smelled creepier then the foulest potions Jinx had ever read out of the forbidden magic section of the Shadowcrest library. Somehow, food that was as brilliantly colored as the riot of neon yellow and pink gelatin type meat currently stewing couldn't be safe for human digestion. Taking a deep breath, Jinx dropped her bomb.

"I was wondering if you would help me pack. I'm going to rendezvous with my mentor's cousin, Zac, in Los Vegas next Monday when his tour comes in. I figured alien strength would come in handy. You're invited too, Raven. We could make a girls night of it."

Jinx smiled and quickly placed a bite of waffles in her mouth, and watched the reactions of her fellow breakfast eaters. Robin remained unfazed; knowing him, he had spotted signs of Jinx's unease earlier then she had. Cyborg and Beast Boy's classic rendition of tofu versus real food argument had frozen mid-rant and both seemed dumbstruck. Starfire had gasped, dropped her wooden cooking spoon, and her smile plummeted into a concerned gape of horror. If Raven felt anything about Jinx's plans for departure, she didn't show it.

Starfire recovered first. "Friend Jinx," she wailed. "Must you go? Have you not enjoyed the exploring of the Mall of Shopping with me, or playing the games of video with friends Beast Boy and Cyborg, or even conversing with Raven over the glass of looking you are so found of?"

At the bereft look on Starfire's face, the familiar feeling of guilt burrowed into Jinx's stomach. "Yes, I have," she said but careful not to sound the least bit defensive. "Lots actually, but it's about time for me to go."

"Forever?" Starfire asked, voice oddly empty as she drifted closer to the table her green eyes intent on Jinx.

"Uh," Jinx began, but Cyborg decided to join the conversation.

"The City's not giving you problems, is it?" he asked, and something about the way he emphasized problems made Jinx think he knew something about Kid's persistent stalking, a topic she hadn't disclosed with the Titans.

"No problems," she primly sniffed. "I can handle anything Jump can throw at me."

"Then why?" Beast Boy asked. "I was going to show you Mega Monkeys 3 next weekend. And you owe me 12 out of 25 races. We can't cancel the video game marathon."

Jinx repressed a wince. Ah yes, the video games, a hobby she had taken up as a means to bond with the guy Titans. In short it seemed Jinx's own bad luck seemed to have conspired against her. She had the utter misfortune of failing miserably to whomever she played, no matter how often she played, or collected experience. Normally, Jinx would hold her own, or even valiantly draw ahead before some freak accident would shove her behind the lead. As any stubborn and proud masochist would, instead of accepting defeat, Jinx went back for more pain, and often was rewarded with the near misses when she would almost, almost win before suffering cruel defeat. She hated video games, yet always went back for more.

"The visit was great," Jinx said and managed to catch Robin's eyes, "but it's time for me to move on."

As one, all the Titans turned to look at Robin, the appointed Jinx expert, as if to say, she's _your_ friend. _You've_ known her longest. Fix her!

"That gives you about four days to pack," he said, a stack of pancakes demolished down to the last dregs. "Is that enough time?"

"As long as I don't have to incinerate any Stankballs, then yeah, with Raven and Starfire's help it's doable," Jinx replied. "I've already started packing some of the more volatile magical items I brought, so you mere mortals have no need to fear my room."

Satisfied, Robin nodded, leaving the rest of the Titans gaping. Jinx smiled and munched on a piece of bacon. After further placating that no, she wasn't unhappy, yes Star you're a wonderful friend and bumgorf to Silky, and no BB, I will not play video games now, Jinx left Titans Tower to stock up on provisions. While the trip to meet up with Zachary would commence through mirrors, a road trip and airplane flight lay beyond, for which Jinx shopped for munchies.

She avoided Main Street and any stores of Mega proportions and slipped inside a mom and pop store to browse their stores of candy. Emerging from the store plastic shopping bag filled with her purchases dangling from her wrist, Jinx closed her eyes and listened as her mind sought out Kid's presence in the city. Her eyes opened and mouth quirked up in a smile when Jinx found him halfway across town, and she stepped onto the street. Three blocks away from the candy store and a burst of wind coupled with the magical prodding and missing grocery bag told Jinx that Kid had moved.

"You do realize that's stealing," Jinx said, and her irritation corrupting her mood. "Show off," she grumbled under her breath.

The gust of wind, she had learned was totally for show done for her benefit. There had been plenty of times Jinx would turn and find Kid behind her, smiling that cocky grin he had perfected. Times like that when only the magical poke from Jinx's subconscious foretold Kid's presence, leaving Jinx trigger happy. A gust of wind accompanied Kid's arrivals and flying hexes changed to grumpy welcomes. Lips pursed, Jinx turned and took in the sight of Kid staring inside of her grocery bag and looking comically offended.

"What is this?" he asked and shook the bag in his hand. "Are you leaving?"

Yes, that was exactly what she was doing, but how did Kid know?

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

Kid frowned and straightened into lecture mode. "These are gummy worms and orange slices," he named Jinx's candy purchases, accusation dripping from every word.

"So?" Jinx said tone nonchalant, right hit jutted out, arms crossed below her chest, and most of her weight resting on her left foot, the perfect image of a bored teenager. Only the smallest quirk tugging at her lips into the smallest of smiles betrayed her.

Still looking much abused, Kid said, "You only buy gummy bears and orange slices when you're traveling. Remember when Billy Numerous went buts on that crime spree and stole a bridge? You spent all day leaping in and out of store fronts, mirrors, puddles, and anything with a reflective surface while you tried to stop and capture all the clones. Halfway through you stopped, bought gummy worms and orange slices, and popped them in your mouth throughout the rest of the chase."

"Glad to know you haven't lost that wonderful habit of stalking me," Jinx said, eyes rolling heavenward, but she uncrossed her arms and stepped forward. "But you're right. I am leaving Jump soon."

"But you can't leave!" Kid burst out. "I still have your necklace." All emotion fell flat on Jinx's face, and Kid smacked his forehead. "Idiot," he muttered. "She still hasn't forgiven you for that. Brilliant move."

"Look Kid, unless you want me dragging your sad behind to the nearest police station, I need to back to the Tower and pack," Jinx snapped, her mood sour again at Kid's kind reminder of her past actions toward her. "Robin, Cyborg and I have put our evil heads together and thought up some nasty ways to turn your own biology against you, so hand over the candy!"

"Yeesh, grumpy," Kid commented but dutifully handed over the candy. With a delicate sniff of disdain, Jinx accepted the candy and examined the bags. Unopened, blast. She had been hoping to part with a hex for Kid to remember her by.

"I still hate you," she reprimanded him as she pulled out a compact mirror and dropped the candy bags inside. If Kid had any thoughts on how the bags sunk into the mirrors surface like rocks sliding through molasses, he refrained from commenting.

Instead with a peculiar smile on his face, he said, "So your feelings are that kind and gentle toward me?" At Jinx's flat out disapproving look, he chuckled and held up his hands. "I'll take any improvement even if it's just you feeling hatred instead of enmity towards me." His face turned curious, morbidly so. "And how do you intend to turn my biology against me?"

The smile Jinx gave him showed Kid more teeth then he was comfortable seeing, but her answer coupled with the wicked gleam in her eyes did not allay his unease. "One word," she began. "Caffeine."

Here Kid did shudder. When he spoke again, his voice was oddly strained, "Ah." He cleared his throat and dashed behind Jinx. At her look, the one she wore she remained a hair away from true exasperation and hexes, he defended himself, "I am now out of range of snipers."

"By using me as your shield?" she scoffed. "Very chivalrous. Sometimes I wonder why I don't just grab you by the ear and drag you to the police station myself."

"Because even if you take me there," Kid reminded her as his hands began to trace the edge of her hairstyle, "They would never be able to keep me. It's soft," he wondered aloud. "No hairspray."

Jinx smacked his hand away, and at the telltale glint of pink beginning to appear, Kid laughed, took a step away, and then his smile dulled.

"You're coming back, right?" he asked. "You did before. We will see each other again."

But none of his statements held the complete confidence to completely mask the uncertainty prompting him to ask.

Jinx sighed and a slightly tortured expression appeared on her face as she realized, "Knowing my luck, yes, we will see each other again."

Instead of crowing in triumph then preening about what a stud he had to be in order to have girls keep coming back for more, Kid smiled and gently teased, "Hey that means you can try out some of those nefarious schemes you've dreamed up. I relish any challenge, mental or physical."

"Goodbye Kid," Jinx said and turned to walk down the street. She had walked perhaps a block or so when waiting at her feet laid a yellow rose. A yellow rose, for friendship? Why roses, Jinx wondered. Of all the flowers he could bestow on her, why roses? Somewhere in her wondering, the rose had transferred from its place in a vase on the ground to twirling in her fingers. She pursed her lips as she gazed at the baffling rose which remained infernally yellow.

Friendship.

Jinx picked up the vase, returned the flower to its home, and placed it in a patch of sun beneath a tree in the park on the way back to the Tower. She never looked back.

The days between her immanent leaving flew by quickly, far faster than Jinx imagined they could. She spent those days with the Titans, a blur of video game marathons, packing, and stopping minor crimes. She and Robin had even sparred. Robin had won, as always, but that didn't spoil the memory.

Everyday seemed a perfectly normal day for the Titans until Jinx woke the morning of her departure. Fuzzy eyes stared at the pristine empty walls around her, and she stumbled out of bed and through the day in a sleepy daze. Finally at some point between breakfast—a breakfast Raven had cooked with mixed results—and leaving for the park, Raven and taken Jinx aside and looked at her with grave violet eyes. If a veil of drowsiness hadn't slowed Jinx's mind so thoroughly, she would have thought to ask what was wrong, but Raven merely gave her excuses to the rest of the Titans, shepherded Jinx through the halls, and finally to the elevator that connected to the lowest levels of the Tower, down to the underground caves and bunkers.

Raven steered Jinx inside a bunker, one Jinx vaguely recognized belong to Wayne Industries and designed to survive a nuclear holocaust. Inside the bunker lay a cot complete with blanket and pillow. Seeing the bed brought a sleepy smile to Jinx's face, and she bee-lined for the security beneath warm sheets and welcoming darkness. From the doorway Jinx heard a faint farewell and command, "Sleep Jinx." The last streams of light left with the closing of the door and beckoned Jinx further into the haze of exhaustion. She never noticed the fervent red gleam that shone on her left hand, or even later the faded noises of battle far above her head.

When sleep finally stole Jinx out of the mists and plunged her down past the place of waking, Jinx never noticed. She slept through the end of the world.

* * *

Prompt: Idiot


	63. Regrouping

**A/N 7-7-11:** Just another transition chapter.

* * *

Chapter 63: Regrouping

Kid had the distinct impression that he had missed something. What exactly he had missed, he didn't know, but somewhere between sunset and sunrise it felt as if something momentous had occurred. He supposed he should be grateful that whatever momentous event had left his world exactly the same. Unless the momentous event was reverting the world back to its original state. The nightmare about fire and utter destruction while trapped lifeless in stone was probably just that, a nightmare. The world as he knew it remained constant. Well except for one small, monumental change. Jinx had left. Of course his initial conclusion of this occurrence first came from a hunch and the later reaffirmed after a week of surveillance on the Titans. The quintet was missing its pink haired protégé.

But she was coming back. She had said so. With her luck, they'd run into each again, and if Kid counted such an occurrence as a stroke of fortune rather than misfortune, then maybe he was an optimist after all. According to Jinx he was an optimist on every interaction when he laid the charm on and tried his best to make Jinx squirm. Or blush.

But there was no use in pining. Life moved on. Time passed. Five Titans walked Jump City's streets, and cloaked in shadows, Kid waited. He waited for his recruitment to pan out when new allies transferred into the HIVE 5 and an old ally transferred back to the HIVE core. He solidified the HIVE's defenses and drilled his motley team.

Division, teleportation, genius, and speed, one by one they fell in line and learned the ropes and built up the foundations of trust needed among teammates. For a while the HIVE 5 (even if it only had four active operators) regrouped under the radar. They watched for the perfect time to finish strengthening their ranks. They waited through raid and The End. They waited and watched the Titans be summoned away without moving forward. They waited even as days stretched past the protectors first leaving and continued absence. All minor activities ceased and crimes no longer bagged as careful planning and research commenced.

Finally one day as Kid once again, as he had daily since their first capture, checked the beacon emitted from See-more in Jump City Penitentiary's Solitary Confinement ward blinked out a certain pattern. Kid looked at the pattern then looked to his men, one taciturn, another southern and at times senseless, and the last grumpy and malicious.

"It's time," he said.

Let no one ever say Kid left a man behind.

* * *

Prompt: Bagged


	64. Mismatched Memories

"A stranger, from the outside. Ooh." "The Claw." Too much Toy Story; anyhoo, this chapter was much more fun write and refers back to ch48. A fun mix of the past and unknown.

* * *

Chapter 64: Mismatched Memories

Pink

Pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink,pink

Pink

He couldn't forget that shade, a cross between bubblegum and cotton candy. Pink hair shaped and arched into two distinct horns towering behind her head. Pink hair and pink eyes, strange eyes, like his, with a vertical pupil slit straight down the middle, like a cat's.

The rest of her had been gray and shadows. Swathed in black tattered shadows for clothing and pale skin devoid of the normal flush of life. Gray skin, pink hair and cat eyes.

She was a demon haunting him and sending bright luminescent energy waves crashing into him. Gray and pink with haunting eyes.

He knew those eyes.

Even as his mind took the sight of her in his memory and turned it around again, he couldn't place the recognition. But he knew her.

Pink, tough, sarcastic and obsessed with unicorns, not that she would ever let on. Charismatic and devious. Loud when angry and pink flares lit in her eyes when she raged.

A firm mental shake shoved back the whispers and cobwebs that had grown as he lay surrounded by purest white. Whoever's brilliant idea it was to decorate the solitary cells like loony bins really needed to be thrown in the loony bin, he fumed. All around white from floor to ceiling, yet all he could think of were pink and gray, the surprise in her eyes, and the fear as recognition had coursed through her.

Glowing pink, lifeless gray, and a scream that had shattered his already broken heart and split his soul.

Another shake and grounding. There had been no screaming, no recognition; just fear in her eyes, panic.

Pink and gray and shadow. Confrontation and defensive action. Betrayal of presence or allegiances he hadn't quite pinned down, but he stared at the ceiling, a bitter Cyclops, filled with visions of pink and hatred, and he wondered if he was going insane. If the rumor proved true then maybe yes and definitely no. A whisper of wind and appearance of a shadow caused a cruel smile to cross See-more's face.

He would soon find out.

* * *

Prompt: bitter


	65. Jailbreak

**A/N 7-29-11:** Well, I suppose you could say I that I in my infinite laziness took a two week holiday from updating. That being stated with the summer winding down and the school year creeping closer I took infinite pleasure in writing the first six paragraphs. The idea centered around these beginning paragraphs was: Billy Numerous holding the floor. After considering the fact that he once stole a bridge just for the heck of it, the possibilities were dazzling and spawned the latter.

* * *

Chapter 65: Jailbreak

The fire truck infested with yeehawing maroon, sunglasses wearing fleas screeching up the main road to the Jump City Penitentiary heralded the end. As many Jump City authorities surmised at the fire truck's appearance-wailing sirens and wildly bugling horn included—the fire truck and the bumbling yahoos on board, Billy Numerous and clones, were a magnificent distraction. A magnificent distraction which included the maroon clones extending both fire, rope, and human ladders over the prison walls and dropping into the courtyard.

Ten Billies quickly became twenty Billies, then forty Billies, and soon, enough Billies to scale the prison walls and climb atop one of the three main buildings in the triangularly shaped prison complex. A dozen Billies went for the guard towers. Another dozen passed a crude battering ram from the fire truck over the wall along with two by fours, air horns, tasers, folding chairs, flash grenades, crow bars and other miscellaneous things needed to wreak havoc in the Prison's main yard.

A boom box had made its way across the wall and courtesy of a wonderful wifi hack from Gizmo the rebellious strains of _Fight the Power_ replaced the prison's wailing alarms. The first responders from Jump City's Police Force and the prison guards receiving a dousing courtesy of the commandeered fire hoses. The rest of the authorities, who avoided the fountains of water, had to deal with hundreds of Billies pounding into the three prison buildings all while wreaking indiscriminate havoc with earsplitting rebel yells.

It was a marvelous distraction.

The first signs of trouble and that the Billies were truly a distraction came with their sudden disappearance shortly after one of the head Billies burst his way into the main prison compound where the higher level prison inmates' were held. With a shout of "Billies, to me!" the number of Billies began to shrink quickly being reabsorbed into their brethren. The last to vanish was a mob of Billies equipped with hockey sticks, baseball bats, and the classic pitchforks and flaming torches.

For a moment the heckled police forces and prison guards had an eerily peaceful interlude until the torrents of orange jumpsuit inmates began pouring out of the three buildings, began bearing the arms scattered across the yard, and charging the gate. Another dozen found the grappling hooks and rope ladders left conveniently behind.

But the invasion began long before the Billy Numeri stormed the keep. The scratching of claws against metal heralded the beginning as small thumb sized robots all with a single electronic eye had emerged out of the prison's various pipes, drains, and air ducts starting at daybreak. Throughout the day the small crab like devices nestled themselves in the prison's wiring and ceilings until finally a trio found their way between walls to the heart of the prison's security system. Upon reaching their goal the small domed heads blinked as a silent signal had the robot's arms retreat into the main body as all went into hibernation. Infiltration complete, the day passed before the second phase began with the setting of the sun. A change swept through the bugs amongst the prison. Dull red eyes lit with a mechanical semblance of life and legs slid out from the mushroom cap head, and the machines rose to their feet and migrated to preassigned coordinates solely selected for the purposes of sabotage and hacking.

A lone bug awoken from dormancy crept behind a bank of desktops clinging horizontally to the backs of the rectangular processes. Mere feet away a pair of feet tapped restlessly as a stool squeaked in protest for the constant movement to and fro its occupant placed on it. Finally the feet finished tapping and the stool gave its biggest squeak of protest, and the steady tread of footsteps faded away from the computer. With the retreat of footsteps the bug moved, settling above an usb port. Without the slightest sound a compartment opened in the base of the bug, and an usb drive emerged and slid smoothly into the desktop's port. The bug froze, and the red light of its mechanical eye dimmed only to begin to faintly pulse.

On the computer screen a small window popped up bearing only the words Downloading New Software while a glowing blue bar marked the progress of the download. With the completion of the download the red light dulled and the window vanished onscreen. Miles away a small, bald teenager let out an obnoxious snigger and cracked his knuckles.

"You in?" asked a figure looming slightly behind Gizmo's shoulder.

A snort followed by an insulted glare was shot at the questioner as Gizmo pocketed his screen and tucked it in his backpack then turned and jumped onto Kid's back. A simple flaring of the nostrils belied Kid's true feelings about the piggyback ride he was responsible for, but he remained silent and nodded towards Kyd Wykkyd. With an equally silent nod, Wykkyd produced a spare cape, formerly draped across his arm, with a flourish spread it over the ground, a dark ink stain against the grey carpet. Leaving two gloved hands in contact with the cape, Wykkyd turned his red eyes to rest on Gizmo.

With a snicker and a pressing of a button a floating metallic camera rose from Gizmo's pack and projected a blue tinted 360 degree viewpoint of a room. Red eyes studied the light projection of the small hole in the wall security room manned by a slouching guard who seemed to have more interest in solitaire then the video feeds on the screen before him. A barely noticeable crease appeared above Wykkyd's red eyes as a black portal began to spin into existence in the middle of the cape draped across the floor.

With one last glance at Wykkyd and a quick check that his newest wardrobe addition, a black belt made from the same material as his costume and the microphone hidden in his left glove hadn't moved, Kid gave a one hand salute to Wykkyd and stepped on to the portal.

While the flying projector Gizmo left behind had no audio by which to gauge a situation, the live feed it streamed provided Wykkyd with the enough information. The silent corresponding black portal spun into existence mere feet behind the prison guard and a black shadow bearing a small, green Gizmo emerged and leaped at the guard within the span of a millisecond, barely long enough for Wykkyd to catch before a trussed up guard had been propped against an empty wall, bound and gagged with duct tape of all choices. Gizmo greedily typed away at the computer's keyboard, gleefully hacking into the system.

The shadow stepped away from the guard and turned just enough for Wykkyd to see a white lightning bolt streaking down his chest. At the sign of all clear, Wykkyd gathered his cape around him and stepped through shadow to join his teammates. The burst of audio and color brought the sounds of Gizmo sniggering at Jump City's software's expense, and Kid picking at the simple belt cinched at his waist. A simple nod of acknowledgement of Wykkyd's entrance; an entrance so silent it would have put owls to shame.

Kid asked again, "You in?"

"Their security's crud," Gizmo replied and swiveled in the commandeered office chair to face the speedster.

"Belts on?" Kid asked and checked again that Gizmo and Wykkyd bore Gizmo's personal contribution to the mission. Although the resemblance to the boy genius design and a certain Boy Wonder's own utility belt proved similar enough to merit gag worthiness, the utility of Gizmo's belt lay in their electronic genius. Now hacked into and lording over the prison security systems, Gizmo had fine-tuned the signal emitted from the nanotechnology threaded into the belts and between the prison security systems. While initially designed as jammers to the prison's systems, Gizmo's successful takeover left it so that whoever wore his belts would be ghosts in the system.

"Right," Kid said shoulders squared and voice surprisingly commanding. "Gizmo, keep us informed while you're Big Brother. Wykkyd, grab Mammoth and get to HQ. I'll clear the path before grabbing the big guy. We've got ten minutes before Billy lays siege. Let's move."

A swift blur passed through the Penitentiary's walls giving any guards encountered an abrupt trip to unconsciousness. A second caped teen walked calmly in Kid's wake moving single mindedly toward his target according to the plan. The plan at its heart was simple. Go in, get our men, and get out. The details of timing, distraction, and infiltration fleshed out the bones.

Gizmo builds the belts and bots to foil security. Wykkyd teleports in and out all HIVE operatives, and Kid is the silent force that clears the path inside the prison. Inside the hijacked security room Gizmo monitors all vital signals including communication inside and outside, patrols, video, and alarms. Billy storms the entrance of the prison as a rather flashy decoy while all slipped away.

A simple yet effective plan which utilized the strengths of the HIVE operatives.

With a jaunty salute Kid parted paths with Wykkyd and meandered through the prison. Ever reticent, Wykkyd continued on, and Kid pitied the poor guard which tried to stand in his teammate's way. Speeding past dark blue corridors, Kid followed Gizmo's promptings in his ear guiding him towards Solitary.

What See-more had done to land himself in Solitary, Kid didn't know but could guess: an overwhelming need to be an alpha male.

"Right slughead, See-more's three doors over on the left," Gizmo sneered.

With only a clenching of his teeth, Kid ran towards the door and then through it. Absurdly pleased with himself, after all he had been working for _months_ on matching his body molecule vibrations to the natural frequencies of his surroundings; Kid halted all motion just inside See-more's cell and grinned brilliantly.

"You know, we could have blown this popsicle stand weeks ago if you'd been ready," he said as his eyes darted across the room to the far wall and See-more. "Make any new friends?" he finished.

See-more remained as he was, sitting with his back leaned against the far wall and eye closed. Amazingly, some bureaucratic idiot had thought to leave See-more his headgear, neutered headgear most likely, but the green helmet clashed garishly with the orange standard jumpsuit See-more wore. A single green eye opened and a familiar, cool determination gazed back at Kid.

"It wasn't time to leave," See-more said with the same air of command he bore before his stay in prison. "Mammoth out?" he asked as he stood and crossed the room towards the door.

"Wykkyd's teleporting him to Japan, the Himalayas, then HQ," Kid replied, and his mind instantly flew to the planning made to wo Wykkyd's teleports wouldn't be traced back to HQ just in case.

"I didn't know you and Wykkyd were still close," See-more replied, eyeing the door speculatively and then extending a hand out before Kid.

Kid handed over an earbud and a belt. "We were teammates," he said as he watched See-more belt up and plug into Gizmo's frequencies.

"Were," was See-more's response. "Anyone," See-more paused tellingly," else interesting?"

"Billy Numerous," came the neutral response from an equally neutral tone. All excessive energy in Kid swelled and receded behind tight walls as it did when any such references to the past were mad.

"That jerk?" came the immediate response and See-more shook his head. "That hellion suffers from his work more then he profits."

"Well that jerk is our decoy," Kid replied shortly. "Time's a tickin', oh great one. Now, if you don't mind," Kid grabbed See-more's wrist and vibrated the pair out of the cell.

Once through See-more hissed and yanked his wrist out of Kid's grip. "Fine, good choices," he admitted.

"Your choices," Kid needled a sharp look reminding See-more that the Kid was not to be trifled with.

"Trained they have potential, but now we need to rendezvous and leave."

And the former top student of the HIVE strode down the prison hallways. At the lack of a certain talkative subordinate, See-more turned and faced the smug grin decorating Kid's face.

"Wrong way, snot brains," Gizmo spoke into the pairs' earbuds. "Get your buts down here. The hillbillies are making their move."

A distant boom sent tremors racing beneath their feet and bones.

"Was that a grenade?" See-more asked Kid carefully. Appearing before his leader's eye without a care in the world, Kid slid an arm around See-more's shoulders, a presumptuous move, and began steering him toward Gizmo's haven.

"Probably, although it might be fireworks or the bass line he filched from one of the local high school's marching band programs," Kid said. "All we told Billy was to be loud and grab attention. We figured his natural inclinations for ostentatious behavior would do the rest."

* * *

Prompt: Owls


	66. Sway

**A/N 8-5-11**: Transition arcs always seem to take the longest to create before the real fun comes back. Anyway, I had always wondered what would have happened if the Brotherhood (BOE) had succeeded at the end of Season 5. Were they seriously thinking there wouldn't be any consequences from the heroes who mentored the Titans? Also speech in italics are directly quoted from Homecoming (2) while the Billy Numeri conversation should deliberately smack of Lightspeed.

* * *

Chapter 66: Sway

The resulting massive jailbreak was glorious. Jump City's police forces were so busy chasing down all the escaped convicts to immediately notice or look for the HIVE 5's restoration. And with the Titans gallivanting about the globe, the HIVE 5 enjoyed a week of relative anarchy. But after the week See-more pulled back on HIVE activity. Five finger discounts were still tolerated, but any marauding about town was swiftly ended. For a guy newly sprung from jail, See-more was oddly restrained in his newfound freedom. Very odd in fact.

From the moment See-more had set foot back in the HIVE base, he had showered, changed into a spare uniform and fully function helmet, raided the fridge, and then fell into all the HIVE files like a man possessed. When he finally emerged from his enthrallment with computer screens it was back to business for the HIVE 5. As usual the business revolved around the Titans.

"We've been extended an invitation," he said.

The HIVE 5 had gathered around the main room's giant video screen. Three Billies sat side by side on the ground sulking as a smug Mammoth grinned at the spot of couch he had claimed from the Billies. Gizmo was perched over to the bruiser's right, and Wykkyd silently sat on the remaining area of the couch. Kid lounged on the floor with a stack of pillows separating him from the Billies.

The screen behind See-more flickered to life and the temperature in the room dropped as a metallic synthetic voice void of human emotion began speaking as a white skull and a brain centered on-screen.

"_The face of our enemy as changed. A new generation stands in our way…_," so the Brain, the literal and figurative brains behind the Brotherhood of Evil narrated. All minor bickering and squirming stilled as the Brain's words began to wrap around their minds. An offer, no a call to unite for a specific purpose.

"_The Teen Titans and their friends will fall. Working together we will destroy them one by one._"

The usual villain pleasantries ensued through diplomatic yet clear statements. The Brain, as top dog, planned to destroy the Titans along with a generation of young heroes and was offering his fellow rogues and villains a chance to follow him in his scheme. The message ended and the Brotherhood's logo haunted the screen.

See-more began and looked across the room, "the main purpose of the HIVE 5 was to rid Jump City of the Titans and to tarnish the Titans influence in Jump. The Brain has proposed a plan that would accomplish both goals. So are we in or out?"

"In," chorused three voices.

"Out," stated four.

Wykkyd merely gazed neutrally at his teammates. Looking levelly at the dissenters, See-more asked, "Billy?"

The middle Billy spoke first. "What do we need that Brotherhood for?"

"Brain in a jar," continued the second Billy.

"Talking gorillas," chimed in the third.

"Boring," they all drawled.

"We should stay here, watch some wrasslin'," the second continued.

"Steal stuff," the third Billy continued.

"And wreak havoc while the Titans are gone," finished the middle Billy.

"Leave the world conquering to the old goats," said the second Billy.

"I say," Gizmo chimed in a crinkled sneer on his face," you're in, or you're crudmunchers."

Mammoth pounded a fist into his palm, cracked the knuckles and just grinned. "Take down the Titans sounds good to me."

The phrase "Mammoth Smash" or something of that sort seemed to run through the Billies heads as the trio eeped in unison scooted farther away from Mammoth. See-more looked over at Wykkyd whom gave a minute shrug. Translation: whatever.

See-more in turn nodded then looked toward the last dissenter. "Kid?"

The shadow sitting by the Billies broke his silence since his original dissent.

"The Titans are recruiting, gathering allies, not ragtag amateurs or wannabes, but heroes. It doesn't matter how fast you can run if you're boxed in."

An amused smile graced See-more's face. "You don't have faith in _The_ Brotherhood of Evil's reputation?"

"Oh, I think they're ruthless, and crazy, positively insane," Kid replied. "If they do win, well let's just say I'd rather not have an angry Batman hunting me down for eliminating the threat his protégé posed to my career. If we're going to have heroes hunting us, I don't want the older, experienced generation with vengeance in their hearts after us."

See-more paused mulling over Kid's words. Destroy the Titans and tick off the Big Names such as the Batman, Aquaman, who may even drag in allies like say, Superman, or the Justice League. As if one Big Name wasn't enough of a crisis to handle by itself.

"Point," he conceded. "But the Brain's a genius. He's planning for a backlash."

"Maybe," Kid said. "I wonder how much he cares for pawns in his plots."

Not as carefree as he seemed, cautious. Well, Kid and caution had long ago formed an understanding.

"The Brotherhood has connections," See-more said and levelly considered Kid's concerns. Kid had a _problem_ with authorities and at times an unhealthy wariness of those authorities for a member of the HIVE. Call it a consequence of having the heavy hand of Brother Blood hovering over him throughout life at the Academy, but Kid was fully aware of the power behind figures in authority and strove to avoid being caught under any such power. But caution and fear could be ignored, even set aside when something more valuable and sought after came to notice. Temptation would bring Kid in line with the group. Temptation and selfishness.

"Certain resources," See-more continued as he dangled the carrot before Kid. "Connections to those with great resources." Subtlety aside it was time to remind Kid why he had stayed with the HIVE for the past seven years. "You've always wanted money, Kid. By following the Brotherhood's plan we'll have access to more power and the ability to get more money than we've had before. With the heroes gone there is no one to effectively police us. We'll get what we want. Are you in?"

For a moment's defiance Kid remained silent and stiff, wary of the offer presented. But he did as he had always in the past when the Headmistress, Headmaster, and See-more wafted the aroma of money under his nose. He set aside caution and folded.

"In."

So the agreement was made.

* * *

Prompt: Ragtag


	67. Forward Motion

**A/N 8-13-11:** Another short snapshot in time of the HIVE landscape. After packing and moving to my school year apartment, we have an update!

* * *

Chapter 67: Forward Motion

HIVE goals split from the moment Kid agreed to cooperate with the Brotherhood's future instructions. Wykkyd sided with Kid leaving a five to one majority against Billy. Despite See-more's claims that the HIVE 5 was a tyranny not a democracy, with five members on board Billy eventually came round with the promise of conquering monster truck rallies. Path selected, See-more kept a steady eye open for any communication from the Brotherhood on The Plan and outlined the HIVE's orders of operation.

Petty theft would continue along with minor acts of bullying, terrorism, and vandalism. Although the Titans were scattered across the globe recruiting, they weren't negligent. At some point in the immediate future backup would come to Jump City to help keep crime down; especially this soon after the alarm over the prison break.

After all whenever there was trouble a Titan would be called, and See-more was certain a favor or three would be called in as the city found itself in need of protection from the "evil" attacking.

A team of Titans would be called. Or, quite possibly, a babysitter.

* * *

Prompt: alarm


	68. Thoughts

**A/N 8-23-11:** Sorry for the delay and the repetition. I'm currently researching children's games, magic tricks and wondering just how the Great Mumbo could fit into all of this. Be warned, another fun concoction of thought is seeping in my head which includes an insane magician, magical seals, power inhibitors, and the totally unprepared pair, K and J, at a severe disadvantage. To the future!

* * *

Chapter 68: Thoughts

With the arrival of reinforcements, See-more ordered a "low" level of crime activity so the Titans East wouldn't blow a gasket and spark a manhunt for BumbleBee's former classmates. However, vibrating through Titans Tower's outer perimeter, running up to Bee, spinning her around in the biggest and tightest bear hug while shouting "Bee!" at the top of his lungs before smacking her one right on the lips probably hadn't helped the lying low business, Kid reflected. But it had been worth it.

The look on her face, and not just hers but her teammates also. The prissy archer had frozen in shock, the fishboy paled, and the Spanish twins just gaped while Bee jumpstarted to life and started raging on about Kid's gall. Ah, the Titans East at their finest. In order to avoid bloodthirsty ex-teammates, Kid had taken to stealing his tacos and burritos from Mexico, not the local Taco Stand.

Getting back to Bee, the funny thing was she'd seemed shocked in a good way, maybe even almost happy. She had remained stunned until he pecked her on the lips. That had sparked her flame of female fury.

She had every reason to be stunned at his behavior toward her. They hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms. BumbleBee actually knew a bit more about Kid's past than any of his other schoolmates. She'd snooped, sneaked, and uncovered enough intel all in the name of understanding why her teammate was so willfully lazy. She of all people knew that he had the unfortunate habit of drawing close to people only for them to exit his life, and for her to do the same when she defected for the Titans; well, she obviously hadn't been expecting his enthusiastic greeting.

Kid found it hard to hate the Titan who led the team whom were instrumental in Brother Blood's fall, even if rumor that Cyborg took the honors of defeat were true. Bee helped catalyze the end of the one man Kid had ever hated. That was a good a place for forgiveness as any; a little monkeying around inside Titans Tower were the footsteps on that pat. And if his fellow teammates thought he was pranking the visiting Titans, all the better.

But enough mushiness. Out of all the bumps and snarls in the future Kid had envisioned after breaking See-more and Mammoth out of jail, the Brotherhood hadn't been one of them. When the invitation for a secret gathering of villains was extended, Kid as acting leader of the HIVE 5 had cheerfully declined and remained thankful for the HIVE protocol which restrained all interactions with other criminal organizations in times of crisis. He should have known See-more would be interested.

Ever since See-more's early days at the HIVE, the Cyclops had hungered for power and saw the Brotherhood as a stepping stone on the path to achieve his goal. As for Kid, he was still as bound to the HIVE now as he was as a child, and if what See-more insinuated about the avenues opened by cooperating with the Brotherhood proved true, then Kid really didn't need to argue against involvement with the Brotherhood.

However, Kid had long nurtured an instinct known as self-preservation. In order to get what he desperately wanted, Kid needed to be able to access it, not locked up in JV, in jail, or out of commission. It was why Kid had endured Blood and not rebelled. Blood would have destroyed a rebellious student he couldn't bring under his control, so Kid had gritted his teeth and forced himself to focus on survival.

If the Brotherhood's plan worked, then they had better have a plan in order to survive the backlash from the superhero community. People didn't take kindly to the cruel vanquishing of the young. They got sentimental about cut off futures and lost potential. Not to mention that some of the Titans targeted had _connections_. Speedy, Green Arrow. Aqualad, Aquaman, King of the Seven Seas. Robin, The Batman. Starfire, an entire warrior alien race. Beast Boy, the Doom Patrol.

Jinx, Zatanna Zatarra.

Call Kid a coward but he really didn't want the Justice League or any of the Big Name heroes gunning after him for participating in bringing down the Titans. And that was just self-preservation talking. That hardly took into account other feelings.

BumbleBee was a Titan, the leader of the Titans East. She would be pulled into this. Then there was also Jinx the bewitching pink-haired sorceress with an uncanny talent of drawing Kid's curiousity. Kid suspected his infatuation was a bit obvious, at least to Private HIVE it had been, but none of the current HIVE members had been in a position to witness his, ah, smitten stalking. Except, maybe See-more suspected.

Part of See-more's reorientation with HIVE affairs had involved discovering the identity of the individual responsible for sending him to jail. An identity Kid was aware of and had opened a file of information complete with height, known affiliations, powers and suspected abilities, weaknesses and activity log. The sheer amount of reported surveillance dutifully included in the file had raised See-more's attention that Kid was _very_ curious about the newcomer sorceress to the City. Of course, See-more had chewed Kid out for his ineptitudes in filling in useful information to the File.

Writing shorter than me for height, mirror mojo for powers, and Titans for known affiliations hadn't endeared him in See-more's quest for cold, hard facts. What should Kid say? Height estimated 5'5". Formidable powers suspected to be entropy accelerators and probability manipulation emitted in energy waves. The ability to manifest said sorcery in order to enter and exit different dimensions through mirrors of various sizes. Period. Known affiliations with the Teen Titans and Zatanna Zatara.

But issues of the heart aside, Kid ultimately had a choice to make between what remained left of his past and uncertain hopes for the future. Was the preservation of the past worth sacrificing an uncertain future?

* * *

Prompt: period


	69. Mystery

**A/N 9-1-11:** And she's back! After many chapters of noted absence, Jinx's re-entrance has come. One of the peculiarities of Season 5 was the implied amount of time covered between the season four finale and mid fifth season. In the episode where Raven escorts the three superkids to a safe house, Raven mentions that a year ago on her birthday...and summarizes the Trigon problem in a very G version of a bedtime story. So I'm trying to stick to the designated time line for this portion of the storyline. Hence the mention of weeks and months passing.

* * *

Chapter 69: Mystery

Spotlights, sorcery and disguises. Fears of the future buried beneath the glare of the spotlight and the adrenaline rush of assisting in onstage in front of a live audience. The intervening weeks and months between leaving Jump and returning were filled with curtain calls, magic, Zataras, and a fierce determination to simply live.

Carpe diem colored Jinx's goals as she learned to melt inside shadows, lose herself in crowds, flirt outrageously, and sway a crowd her spell weaving words, not that Zatanna let her onstage in her performances. The last time Jinx had been allowed near a stage had been hours before she had convinced Zatanna to notice her. The chandelier incident from so long ago had left an impression. Instead Jinx learned firsthand how to perform and hide.

Perhaps one of Jinx's happiest moments during the intervening months was returning to Shadowcrest and reuniting with Lucky. The loyal German Shepherd greeted her enthusiastically with a mixture of growls and a fiercely wagging tail. Jinx reveled in the affection showered on her by her old friend and the familiarity of Shadowcrest's grounds. Halls once considered a prison now proved a soothing balm for the rough edges of her unease. Here lay security and safety, for in its isolation Shadowcrest lay in a dimension removed from the rest of Earth.

Removed from the daily hustle and bustle of the outside world, Jinx spent quiet afternoons stripped of her illusions basking in the sun. Events in the outside world passed beyond her notice, for she had carefully buried her Titan communicator at the bottommost reaches of her birthday trunk's fathomless depths. In an effort to distance herself from the past and predictions of the future, Jinx cut herself off from the world outside of Shadowcrest and buried all which disturbed her peace.

"You can't run forever," chided a warm voice.

Eyes blinking open languidly, Jinx slowly rose from her bed of grass to face the elusive redhead mere feet from her. Cassandra.

"Zatanna is the one who lectures me about passive neglect and responsibilities, not you," Jinx said eyes crinkling in annoyance at her visitor.

"Oh, she will," Cassandra easily replied a chain of daisies dangling from her hands as she moved to sit. Brown eyes slid towards the young sorceress. "I just thought you had a few questions to ask that I might be able to answer?"

Jinx took a moment to enjoy the caress of the sunlight warming her skin and the tickle of a breeze twisting across her cheek as her fingers petted black and brown patches of coarse fur while she sought for a place to begin. Beside her needle and thread emerged from a cleverly hidden pocket, and the redhead began to strengthen the chain.

"When I was very young," Jinx began. Her fingers never ceased in their rhythmic motions. "I learned that if something could be broken, then I could break it. I had a knack for making messes, and having things around me break. Small things any kid could do on accident when they didn't show enough care."

Pausing to marshal her thoughts a distressed frown marred her brow. "My powers didn't even start really manifesting until I was eight, but it seems all my life I've become talented at breaking and ruining things."

With a morose sigh, Jinx buried her cheek against Lucky's neck and sought the comfort found in a steady heartbeat pounding beneath her ear. "A very evil man told me months back that I should be glad the world was ending and implied my talent for ruining things could reach the same scale as an apocalypse."

"Not even ice would suffice for the terror you would bring," the murmured echo of the past drew Jinx from the comfort found embracing Lucky and staring at Cassandra's mournful brown eyes.

"I _saw_," Cassandra said in way of explanation while her lips drooped. "A pity that man had to defile such lines from Frost's work. I was partial to that poem up until his twisting. _Fire and Ice_." Brown eyes grew distant with a hint of gold glimmering deep inside. Jinx knew carried wisps of Time dancing around when she saw them.

"Is he right?" she asked and prepared for the worst possible reply, none.

A yes or no would be too easy an answer for someone who knew the peril of the wrong word in the wrong place and the effects in a history not yet written. For someone like Cassandra and her kin, who could see in, through, and past time and strove to uphold its flow and passage, silence was their most condemning reply, for it signified an answer they couldn't give unless they wanted their world to fall to pieces around them.

It was to Jinx's greatest bemusement when Cassandra took the fourth option, riddles accented with enigma.

"When Trigon brought Slade back from the grips of death, the man had the unique opportunity of looking at events from a point removed from Time before he was reinserted." Sunlight flashed and bounced thee needle moving through the flower stems. "Slade's time had ended, yet by receiving borrowed time for his tasks on earth, he saw the future as I would. He saw parts of what could be."

Solemn brown eyes found and held Jinx's confused pink. "Everyone has the potential for great evil Jinx," Cassandra said her hands stilled and resting in her lap over the chain of flowers. "Inside all of us is the inclination to satisfy our own desires. Some of the greatest harm that we can cause is through neglect, to passively sit and focus on ourselves instead of helping those within our power to reach." A pause and a breath. "But there is always a choice. We choose how we act, and we live with the consequences of our actions."

With an outstretched hand, Cassandra peered with eyes glimmering with gold; she gave her final word before taking her leave from the grounds purpose fulfilled. "Many paths stretch before you, Jinx. While they intersect at a common destination, the path you walk, the choices you make, and the company you keep will ultimately determine the path you walk beyond that intersection." Or even if there would still a path to follow. "And do not forget. You are not alone."

And the strange seer left, scattering with the winds that seemed to draw her to the hill on which Jinx sat but not before crowing Jinx's brow with the daisy chain. Minds strangely numb, Jinx traced the last hint of red curls blowing in the breeze before her hand resumed the steady caress to Lucky's coat. The same steady heartbeat resumed beneath her fingers once more.

Later after searching out and sharing the afternoon's encounter with Zatanna, Jinx pondered Zatanna's words on the situation. A sweeping hug had been the first response after the story came tripping out of Jinx's lips starting with her unfortunate encounter with Slade and ending with Cassandra's visit. Over the period of time following Zatanna managed to summarize Cassandra's warnings and add her own two cents as well.

"There will be a choice you must make in both the near and far future," Zatanna intoned in the same manner she had explained the more serious aspects of Jinx's education. "Remember Jinx, no matter how dark or desperate, do not give into despair. There is always hope."

Peculiar thoughts haunted Jinx for her remaining stay at Shadowcrest. Neglect, passive inaction, and apathy could cause just as much harm to others as direct physical actions. Hadn't someone once said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing, or something to that extent?

So armored in long jeans, a pink t-shirt and with her top hat perched jauntily on her head, Jinx picked up her retrieved Titans communicator and made a choice.

* * *

Prompt: Accented


	70. Reunion

**A/N 9-5-11:** If I had to summarize last chapter it would be: In which Jinx gets a kick in the pants. I enjoyed writing this chapter and plotting the shenanigans. I'd like to thank those who have given positive feedback over my plans to incorporate Mumbo into this crazy story. All I have to say about my plans and your expectations is: when I think about what I'm going to do with the situation and what I want to do with the situation, a big smile spreads across my face and I start cackling with glee. Take that as you will.

In other news I'm going to experiment with a different update schedule of updating twice one week, once the next and repeat. The hope of this is to have a speedier update and thus completion of this story while allowing me time to write future chapters.

* * *

Chapter 70: Reunion

"The Jump City Penitentiary is mostly empty, and a manhunt is underway. They will need reinforcements," See-more had said before the Titans East set foot in the city. "The Titans will come, and we will be waiting."

But ever since the Titans East had been called back to Steel City, the only reminder of the Titans presence remained in the Tower. Light shined consistently from the upper floors and the central room and different rooms on the extremities of the Tower lit at variable intervals.

After analyzing the pattern of lit and unlit rooms throughout the week, Gizmo was convinced the lights had been set on timers; therefore, no one was in the Tower making it the prime time to invade and trash the joint. To say Gizmo remained a touch bitter at the end result of his first mission outside of the HIVE would be an accurate understatement. Even when See-more said no to Gizmo's lobbying (too conspicuous) Kid himself was curious about exploring the inside reaches of the Titan's t-shaped Tower, and thus he secretly promoted a covert operation of infiltrating the Titans domain under See-more's nose. Gizmo and Wykkyd volunteered to come along.

An extremely impressive piece of hacking later Gizmo had blindsided enough of the Tower's security to safely wrangle with the remnants in the Titan main room. With a snarly warning not to leave the room yet or trigger lockdown, Gizmo went back to pitting his wits against Cyborg's. After the grudging conclusion that even his knowledge of Cyborg's thought processes gleaned from the very inside of Cyborg's head (an interesting enough tale but one Gizmo refused to speak of besides the phrases stupid viruses and snot colored amoeba) Gizmo wouldn't be able to deactivate all of the Titans security and thus trash the joint, Gizmo had become extra snarly. But the trio was inside the Tower and after a quick vote a tour had been agreed upon.

Sure they couldn't teepee the place, but that didn't mean embarrassing blackmail or reputation building photographs couldn't be taken. Wykkyd and Kid dawdled around the main room admiring the flat paneling screens on the walls while Gizmo worked to deactivate the first section of security on their tour.

Kid alternated between admiring the view of the bay and looking longingly at the Titan's fridge. What did it say of the Titans that they had an alarm system specifically set to go off if the fridge was opened by a nonTitan individual? A shout of triumph echoed from Gizmo, and the smile stretching across the bald genius' face was only matched in intensity by the fierce glee dancing in his eyes.

"Bingo," Gizmo muttered. The wide smile coiled into a smirk. "I know have a backdoor into the Titans security system."

Across the room Wykkky arched an eyebrow. Kid echoed his companion's sentiments. "What, no cruddy attached?"

Gizmo's teeth flashed in his grimace as if he had tasted a truly repulsive item. Instead of replying he slipped out of his chair and activated the jet pack function of his equipment.

"First floor's clear, sissies," he sneered as he flew towards the door. "Stay close or initiate lockdown."

The lagging HIVE members exchanged glance then dashed to catch up with their teammate. The tour, though slow, for Gizmo had to deactivate the security in the unexplored areas while reactivating security in the portions of the tower they had already explored, remained interesting. Of course, some areas were strictly left alone for sheer necessity's sake such as the Trophy room—who knew the Titans kept trophies of their various adventures?—the case files, some of the high technology clusters, Cyborg's workshop—a true disappointment for Gizmo—and Robin's room. But the rest of the tour was fascinating from finding a volleyball court on the roof to peeking inside the Titan's garage, exploring the bowels of the tour, or even photographing the crystallized garbage formations growing in Beast Boy's room.

Wykkyd had strictly steered the trio away from Raven's room, and Kid could hardly blame him. The air right outside her room seemed to be ten degrees colder then the surrounding air, and the eerie feeling of being constantly watched lurked around her door. Starfire's round purple bead and purple curtains seemed to hold a cheery gleam in them even as the boys posed for photographs outside of each of their landmarks with poses ranging from solemn, conniving, disrespectful, and downright goofy. The adrenaline high pounding through their bloodstreams only aided the heady thrill coursing through the trio.

"You know," Kid mused after the last round of pictures. "We could do so much more then shred important Titan villain profiles and crash their system. We could make money off this."

Here Gizmo perked up slightly. "By what, selling the security specs of the tower to the highest bidder?"

Kid's face bright with the afterglow of an epiphany glowed even brighter. "Well, yes, that too, but we could open a business!"

Here Gizmo howled with laughter.

Undeterred, Kid continued. "Think about it. Titans Tower Tours. We could charge twenty bucks a head and lead everyone around the Tower allowing photographs, letting the tourist leave messy fingerprints on the windows, try out the game station, and swimming in the underground dock and all led by humble civilians graced by the Titans with their blessing for the tours. We'd make a mint! And the tower's security would be horribly compromised."

"And any wannabe would break in and take credit, no thanks," Gizmo finished. "Better to keep the security specs for ourselves to implement in the future."

"But who cares about who gets the security plans," Kid argued. "As long as the security's compromised, and the Titans have to spend more time covering their backs at home then recruiting, then who cares who has the plans? Either way we win."

A hand on his shoulder broke Kid out of his rant. With a question in his gaze, Kid looked at Wykkyd and then his eyes rested on a door heretofore unnoticed despite all their travels about the Tower. Somehow Kid succeeded in keeping the shock off his face even as a feeling of soft awe began seeping into his marrow. A heartbeat later and he stood before the door. Gloved fingers reverently stroked the black contours engraved in the gray paneling.

It had been so long. So many months had passed since he had last seen this name. So much had occurred in between: training, recruitment, more training, the jailbreak, and allying themselves with the Brotherhood. After so long he had wondered if those things he felt once before would fade with time's passage. Yet with the way his breath caught, and his heart stuttered, maybe not.

Like an echo from a dream, words filtered through as if from a great distance.

"Hey, what's he doing? Wykkyd, stop him_. Don't go in there_, idiot!"

But the door slid aside, and Kid stepped across the threshold and drank in the sight in front of him and stiffened. Boxes everywhere, towering toward the ceiling, most closed tightly but others were open, and loose objects were strewn across the room. But it was the lithe body bent over a box, back facing him that halted Kid in his tracks.

Golden skin gleamed covered only by a frothy pink laced top and jean cut offs which ended at the knees. The figure turned, and pink eyes noted his presence then widened in either shock or horror, Kid couldn't tell. But those eyes, and the familiar face told all.

"Jinx," the name escaped from his lips to be lost in the air even as he fully appreciated the flush of life in the golden skin, not grey; wow, he had never seen her collarbones before, and the way pink hair fell loose and straight past her golden and bare shoulders where only pink straps rested. Somehow his eyes traveled down along the contours before him only to travel back to and rest on a black top hat crowning Jinx's head.

Jinx as he had never seen her before. Casual Jinx. Whoa.

And here he was the same, unchanged after all this time, still as infatuated as before. Another heartbeat passed and Kid realized he'd been staring and thinking way too fast once again, but as he returned to the beat of the drum all else but him followed, he caught the fire roaring to life and the lithe form hurtling toward him as she roared her battle cry.

"Get out!"

* * *

Prompt: Succeed


	71. Guidelines

**A/N 9-8-11:** Well, as promised here is the second installment for this week. Next week gets one update and the following two.

* * *

Chapter 71: Guidelines

After all her interactions with Kid, Jinx had compiled a list of do's and do not's.

Do not lose your temper at Kid no matter how aggravating he proves. It only eggs him on.

Do not throw miscellaneous items at Kid in a fit of fury. He will only catch them, and thus spoil any satisfaction.

Do not lash out senselessly in anger or annoyance with magic at Kid. He is much too fast and will dodge all attacks. Especially don't do this on your home turf. It will destroy your territory.

Do not ever agree with anything Kid says. Doing so will only fuel his manic enthusiasm.

Do not take any credit for whatever guile and cunning you use to ensnare Kid. It only encourages his delusion of infatuation.

Do not initiate lockdown with Kid in the Tower. He can vibrate through the steel walls and will use the ability to both gloat about your entrapment and leave.

Do plan ahead.

Do remain vigilant at all times outside Titans Tower. Kid can and will appear at any moment.

Do use any and all electronics to their fullest potential and abilities in deterring Kid.

Do refuse any floral arrangements offered from any known or anonymous source. See note above about inflating pompous egos.

Do not at any moment hesitate to call in back up whenever the situation proves necessary.

Staring at the last wisps of a portal twist into thin air bearing the HIVE invaders away from the Tower, Jinx reviewed her past reasoning and list of do's and do not's and called Cyborg.

"Hey, Cyborg? We've had a security breach."

* * *

Prompt: Reasoning


	72. The Calm

**A/N 9-16-11:** Eh, two hours late. Well, fun trivia for all my author's notes readers. Throughout DTRH Jinx has at times not been as Jinx like as the Tv show has had her. For example, the baldness, the skin tone, and the mirror magic. Well, you see way back in the 80s when the Teen Titans came back with Beast Boy, Robin, Kid Flash, Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg and all else, Jinx was a villain, big surprise. But she was an Indian sorceress with earth-rooted magic. She was also bald. So my tributes to the old comic are Jinx's "normal" skintone, the former baldness, and Robin's former shortpants uniform complete with elf shoes.

The mirror magic Jinx uses evolved from the idea that young Jinx would need a way to hang out with young Robin without being exposed to the public. Enter Zatanna, magic, the phrase "Looking Glass", and the JLU episode "Flash and Substance". The mirror world, and Jinx's mirror magic evolved from there.

* * *

Chapter 72: The Calm

Cyborg's response after his initial sweep of the Titan's security proved comically familiar and soothing. An outraged, "Who's been messing with my system?"

After resigning himself for a manual sweep of the system, his outrage resolved to weary acceptance of at least a three day delay before he could resume recruitment. Jinx was glad for the company.

Ever since she had turned around in her room to find an unwelcome presence the Tower's high ceilings and wide hallways taunted her. She hadn't quite yet managed to shake the paranoid feeling of eyes following her every move. Now with Cyborg bustling and tinkering about, she could stop twitching at the slightest noise and take down the magical wards she had set around the Tower. Suffice it to say that anyone who had dared to break and enter would have proceeded to have a very miserable thirteen days.

Jinx found herself gravitating toward Cyborg's workplace in between alerts and patrols. Between the Jump City's Police Force, The Titans East's efforts, and Jinx's appearance, the name Titan settled any stirrings from the city's crime levels, and a sigh of relief seemed to breathe out of Jump City.

All had been well until a certain group of HIVE individuals had infiltrated the Tower. Successfully to Cyborg's chagrin.

"Who does he think he is?" Jinx asked during one of Cyborg's breaks from coding and analyzing the Tower's security. Cyborg turned his attention from staring at the same lines of code had had been starting at for at least twenty minutes in a search for Gizmo's handwork.

"Who?" he asked gamely.

"Kid," Jinx spat the word out from where she slouched in one of the computer area's swivel chairs. Her head perched against her hand. "Where does he get the nerve to do half the crazy things he does?"

"Like breaking into the Tower and posting the pictures on the web?" Cyborg casually asked. Mutual frowns were shared at the memory of even the announcement of an upcoming auction for the Tower's security specs one of Cyborg's birdies had brought to their attention.

"And going into my room," Jinx continued. "He stole a box from my room, and as luck would have it, it was my spare uniform box." Which also included other miscellaneous articles of clothing from her wardrobe. "I swear I have half a mind to dose him with enough tranquilizers to drop an elephant, slap a power inhibitor on his wrist, and drag him to the police station." She fumed silently.

"What are you mad about?" he asked. "The fact he broke in the Tower or that it looks like he'll keep following you around like a puppy?"

Jinx looked askance at Cyborg with a weighing assessment as if she was looking at a potentially poisonous snake. Cyborg just leaned back in his chair, settled in, and smiled placidly back at Jinx. The façade might have worked if she hadn't caught the twinkle in the back of his human eye.

"How long have you known?" she asked.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Cyborg easily replied.

"Who else knows?" And why hadn't they beaten Kid up yet? Should she be offended or flattered that no one had defended her honor?

"Why haven't you caught him?" Cyborg asked.

Irritation stirring in a flash of annoyance, Jinx tartly asked, "Are you going to answer my questions?"

"Are you?"

Burying her face in her hands, Jinx groaned and took a deep breath. "I get enough of this banter from Kid. I _don't_ need it from you."

Cyborg laughed and relented. "I've been keeping tabs ever since the, uh, Mirror Incident when you came back fuming instead of triumphant." The reunion, Jinx recalled, when she had cornered Kid in the Mirror World. Scratching his head in thought, Cyborg continued. "Robin knows, but he's Robin. Maybe Raven."

Jinx's brow furrowed, and she slowly reviewed Cyborg's answers. He knew, and Robin knew about Kid's odd habits about following her.

She had hardly expected it to remain a secret, but if they knew, then why hadn't they said or done anything? Well, Cyborg was definitely saying something now, and Robin had been the one who spearheaded brainstorming ways to successfully incapacitate and capture Kid. And Robin had been the one to think of the extreme effects caffeine would have on someone with the accelerated metabolic rate Kid was supposed to possessive.

"So you guys have known, but you wanted me to tell you about Kid on my own," Jinx said slowly. At Cyborg's beaming nod, she sighed. "At the time there were bigger things going on, and I handled it. I still can," she challenged letting Cyborg remember exactly and what the Titans had been so busy with during her last visit. Slade and Trigon to be brief.

"Besides, Kid's more a pest then a threat," she rationalized.

"That pest managed to outwit the Flash in his own town at 15, orchestrate a prison break, and train up the HIVE 5 into a form of functionality," Cyborg replied, the chastisement only revealed in how the lighthearted smile and twinkle in his eye had vanished.

"Be careful," he warned. "Kid may act differently around you, but don't forget who he is, and where his allegiances lie." The picture of indignant embarrassment, Jinx instead returned the volley. "If he's so dangerous, then why have you left him up to me to handle?"

Here the twinkle and the absent smile flowed easily back into Cyborg's face. "I think you're a good influence on him."

Here Jinx unashamedly gaped. She was not going to tell Cyborg that Kid was unusually kind around her

"Cyborg," she finally managed once she found where her voice had disappeared too. "Missionary dating does _not_ work. Even I know that."

"Never said you had to date him, nor do I recommend it," Cyborg easily replied as he turned back to the lines of code on the computer screen. "But one thing I have noticed is that a little kindness at the right moment goes a long way."

Jinx never had an opportunity to launch into a debate discussing the dubious merits of offering compassion instead of justice to certain speedster delinquents. The alert came on; the red lights flashed in tandem with the audio alert, and she instead had to focus on Mumbo Jumbo downtown disturbing the peace on a bent of inspirational redecoration.

Still reeling from Cyborg's conversation, Jinx declined his offer of help. Instead she squared her shoulders, stood tall, and breezily said. "I've got it. It's just Mumbo. How bad could it possibly be?"

It was worse.

* * *

Prompt: Pictures


	73. Hocus Pocus

**A/N 9-19-11**: Well, so far two chapters into the MJ arc with four planned, and it looks like it will be quite the ride. I am particularly looking forward to the end, but for now here is a portion of the middle and the beginning of another wacky adventure.

* * *

Chapter 73: Hocus Pocus

How did she get herself into these messes? Jinx couldn't help but wonder.

It's only the Amazing Mumbo . _He's_ easily enough dealt with. Dodge the magic, break the wand, and steer clear of that infernal hat. Easy. The bumbling magician wouldn't stand a chance. Be back in an hour. If I'm not back in three send a search party (with heavy emphasis on the sarcasm).

Yeah, easy.

Yet, somehow, two hours later Jinx was dangling over a boiling lake of lava. A _real_ lake of hot lava. Bumbling magician, villain of the week her foot.

Deep breathes, girl. Cool it down. You don't want to accidentally pop your chains and topple into the lava below.

"Jinx," and suddenly Jinx began fighting back the urge to scream at the top of her lungs and wail piteously. "Freak out," the absurdly civilian chained to her back and sharing her platform and fate over hot lava said. The civilian who possessed the gall to coach her to deliberately let her powers react with the upheaval of her emotions. Because, of course, it was just her luck when the bumbling villain of the week pulled a wild card of competency and took a shining to her seemingly fascinating talents, she was stuck with the guy she had once claimed she would never trust.

Kid, or more accurately for the current situation, West.

Caught between her pride and a boiling lake of fiery hot lava and chained to the most infuriating guy she had ever had the misfortune of meeting. Her fellow sharer of misfortune demanded her trust, and currently Jinx found herself torn between her former ironclad resolve to never trust West, and the most recent progression of events.

How she hated pathos.

But really, if she had to rest any blame for her current situation on anyone, she would reluctantly and shamefully place it on herself—and maybe Robin—but mostly herself. She had grossly underestimated Mumbo's abilities. Blithely skimming the Titananimal fiasco, Jinx had let the implications roll off her shoulders like water off a duck's feathers. Instead of treating Mumbo like a magical threat, she had waltzed through a mirror to a reflection in a store window a few blocks from Mumbo's massive fung shui remodeling and observed for a few moments the goings on. With the Ring of Illusions to give her skin its gray pallor from before, she had watched and smiled indulgently as she located the objects of warning: a real magic wand of the cursed variety and the unusual top hat from Robin's reports.

Jinx watched, assessing Mumbo's act. Storefront windows disappeared along with alarm systems, and security forces. Then the standard issue weaponry of the first responders wilted from metal cylinders to floral bouquets.

With a slight wave of her hand, Jinx shifted her environment so that the portal to the downtown mirror which she straddled cast her reflection out to be seen by sharp-eyed police officers. From the increased chatter among the forces, and the subtle nods she was given, Cyborg had heralded her coming.

Now, for a dramatic entrance.

A step forward out into the street with a gust of wind to silence her footsteps, and slip into the shadows. Slink forward under the faintest of illusions and cue the special effects.

A queue of brooms carrying bags and boxes of cash and jewelry out of the street's stores marched down the street. Mumbo cheerfully conducted the brooms and a singing quartet of daisies in song. All remained well and merry until the daisies wilted with a shriek of distress. His broom servants shuddered and burst in an explosion of straw and splinters in a lovely chain reaction like a toppling line of dominoes heading straight for the blue-skinned magician.

"No!" he cried, aggrieved. "Hocus Pocus! Fix yourselves. Reparo!"

A tsking sounded from behind jerked Mumbo's attention from the stuttered repairing attempts of splinters to a point over his left shoulder. Wand loosely held in his hand, he turned to look down the street. An empty street met him, for all sane civilians had dashed out of the chaos and to a point of safety. Domino-masked eyes narrowed at the unseen presence permeating the air. Wand lowered to his side and hand twitching, Mumbo closed his eyes and listened.

On the breeze a high pitched keen akin to a mosquito's whine carried. Mumbo whirled and shouted, "Alakazam!" then stumbled backwards as his hat flew off his head.

Down the hat rolled across the cement. Limping awkwardly down its path, a dime-sized hole arrested its movements. Masked eyes finally settled on the puppeteer of the chaos around him.

Slight of frame yet full of the same motley sense of style and bravery as any young Titan, the pink-haired girl stood proudly atop the road, and wicked merriment danced in her eyes as she casually blew imaginary smoke off her pointer finger.

"I think you just broke a few copyright laws," she said and advanced down the street toward the azure man.

Lips pulling into a pout, Mumbo waved his hand, and invisible hands gently wrapped around his hat and bore it to his side. Eying the hole in dismay, Mumbo stuck his arm inside and gasped as if in pain when his hand passed no further then mid-forearm inside the hat's depths.

"My hat!" he cried and frowned sternly at Jinx. "Naughty girl. Abracadabra." A flash of light sparked from the end of his wand, honing on Jinx, but with a casual wave of her hand and a spark of pink, nothing happened.

Eyebrows narrowing, Mumbo tried again. "Toil and Trouble!" he cast grandly.

Again nothing.

"Curtain call, Mumbo," Jinx said smoothly. "Give up and go quietly."

Staring down his long nose at her, Mumbo laughed. "If you think that's the only trick up my sleeve, think again."

He wove and cast. A volley of flowers sprouted from the ground launching themselves at the pink-haired sorceress. Ropes of handkerchiefs burst from Mumbo's coat sleeves, a shower of coins fell from the sky, and all the broom splinters twitched, grew into a multitude, and advanced.

Calm pink eyes darted about the air and filled with a pink light. Pivoting on her heel, Jinx spun, and a trail of hex waves followed in her wake. The first on the front lines that hit her defenses fell lifeless. The longer they lingered and piled atop each other, the grayer they grew. Then the area of magical interruption spread outward as the chains of handkerchiefs fluttered apart, the brooms toppled over, and the flowers wilted.

Undeterred, Mumbo swung his arm, a spell on his lips as the cry of _Mumbo Jumbo _rose in his throat. Then pink-hair exploded into existence in front of him shooting out of a dazzling piece of glass catching the sun's face. With a neat lunge the wand was knocked out of Mumbo's hand and pin-wheeled through the air. At its zenith, the slight girl twisted, throwing herself backwards then flipping upright; she looked to the sky, and pink waves shot from her hands up into the sky.

Mumbo's wand snapped in two. The jagged pieces of wood clattered to the ground and crumbled into ash.

"My…," Mumbo began, and his voice caught on the end. Lifeless eyes followed the burst of new wind scattering the two piles of ash. "My wand," he finished quietly, voice barely above a murmur. Slumping to his knees, he folded as the world righted itself back to its proper arrangement. Fire hydrants, light posts, various flora, fauna, and pedestrians reappeared smiles alight and joy aglow.

"Miss," an adult voice said from behind Jinx. Shifting her head so she kept Mumbo in her periphery, Jinx gave one of her dazzling smiles to the speaker, the one that screamed innocence and caused onlookers to forget the clash of gray skin and pink hair.

"Yes, officer?"

The cop nodded toward the white armored SWAT forces circling around the subdued magician and said, "We've got it from here." He paused and let out a gruff nice job.

Jinx gave him the smile which Zatanna called her _aren't-I-a-clever-girl_ smile. Canting her head she looked back at the blue magician and watched as gloved hands idly rubbed together even as Jump City's Special Forces read him his rights and handcuffed him.

Wait. A spark of memory ignited and blazed through Jinx's mind. The alert rang even as she wracked her memory for what exactly was wrong with the scene in front of her. Hat neutralized, wand destroyed, and Mumbo in handcuffs as blue as blue could be. The pieces clicked together as Jinx recalled Robin's stories about Mumbo.

Heavens above, he was _blue_.

Reacting to her tension, the police officer at her side asked, "What's wrong?" and eyed the handcuffed magician like an angry lion.

"He's still armed," Jinx breathed.

The cop muttered something that would have earned him a proper mouth washing and shouted, "Armed hostile. We have an armed hostile."

Jinx began to run towards the knot of officers surrounding Mumbo, and Mumbo just let a wide, smug grin spread across his face, than vanished in a puff of smoke.

He's a stage magician _and_ an escape artist, Jinx remembered. But once Mumbo's wand was broken, he became powerless, merely human again, but if he was still blue… A shimmer in the air before Jinx was her warning. Dodging back, she shot a hex at the haze, all too late. With another burst of smoke, Mumbo reappeared free of his bonds. A wand slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand which he pointed at Jinx's throat.

"Lady and gentlemen," he said. "May I remind you, I am an escape artist, and I always have tricks up my sleeves." Eyes shining a furious pink, Jinx glared at Mumbo as she reached for her magic to entrap and dampen any magical advantage that infernal wand gave him.

"Ah, ah," Mumbo scolded and dodged, his torso stretching like spineless rubber to the side as she blocked then slashed magic at the magician. "None of that now. Presto Chango!"

A wave of the wand, and Mumbo's white gloved hand plunged through Jinx's abdomen and began rooting around inside as if he was searching for a lost rabbit. Limbs furiously unresponsive, Jinx gasped as a cold hand clenched around her particularly vulnerable core, and the air around Jinx began to spark and crack with magical energy.

"Now, now no need to work yourself into a tizzy," Mumbo comforted. "I'm only leveling the playing field."

A choked cry escaped Jinx as Mumbo's arm pulled out of her body. In his hand he held a crackling pink sun radiant in its fury.

"And now," Mumbo declared as he spun to face the ring of Special Weapons and Tactics forces surrounding him. Jinx gradually became aware of the repetitive thuds in the air as the beat of helicopter rotors overhead. Perhaps if the sickening sensation of a gaping hole weeping in its emptiness hadn't distracted her, then Jinx would have cared that reporters had seen Mumbo rip the magic out of her.

"Mumbo says, freeze!" A dazzling coat of ice covered all outside help, and Mumbo, performer to the end, took full advantage of the rolling cameras and spotlight. "And now for my final act, I shall make this lovely yet befuddled Titan disappear."

Wand in one hand, the small sun in his other, a wave of his wand, and the magic words, _"Mumbo Jumbo!",_ and the magical duo disappeared in two plumes of smoke.

…

Deep breaths through your nose to calm the roiling storm of nausea and absence. Ignore the jerks in the pit of your stomach like a three year old playing with a yo-yo. Deep breathes and keep your head. It's not really gone, only moved.

"Please not the hat," Jinx whispered as her eyes darted across the empty expanse. Dark, cold floor beneath her hands and feet, and a row of lights shined down from above. In the center of the room hung a hammock suspended in midair. It easily bore the cause of the headache pounding through her skull. With a firm shake of her head, Jinx tried to focus her thoughts then winced.

Deep breathes, and don't shake your head. Stand up. Ignore the dizziness and the nausea. Hold your head up high, keep your back straight, and go.

Outwardly collected, Jinx walked over to the current bane of her existence, the man juggling her magical core.

"We're on a sound stage," she said to the man swaying guilelessly in the hammock. "Not a theater stage. And isn't disappearing a Titan an old trick?"

The stage smile spread even wider across Mumbo's face. "I couldn't take you back in my hat. The Titans saw to that. Besides, I hit the road with new tricks and spells to try out." The domino mask wiggled up and down. "Want to be the guinea pig?"

* * *

Prompt: Yo-yo


	74. Abracadabra

**A/N 9-22-11:** I will admit that I'm a softie at heart, but by the time this four chapter episode is over I will have had much fun torturing our favorite couple. I will admit the Mumbo ideas has two main purposes. 1) plot. 2) laughs. Fear me, I shall laugh when this is over. Who says you can't have fun while developing a plot point?

* * *

Chapter 74: Abracadabra

In the five minutes between the point Mumbo admitted to having ulterior motives to spiriting Jinx away and the present, he and Jinx switched places. Pillow underneath her head, Jinx wearily reclined. Pink eyes tracked each movement of Mumbo's pacing onstage. From what Jinx had been able to catch, Mumbo was muttering about changes in plans; as if he hadn't exactly planned on plucking Jinx's magic out of her. Now he stewed over how to test his spells.

"Can't use the usual tricks. She'll see right through them…weak as a kitten…in no shape…"

All signs pointed toward the fact he was inclined to give her a sporting chance. Curled up in a hammock swinging on nothing, Jinx watched his pacing. Somewhere beneath the insanity and addiction to having all of magic at his fingertips lay the remnants of a man. The evidence for such a position came when Mumbo took a break from his preparations and squatted down to eye-level beside Jinx.

"Alright kiddo, what's going on?" he asked. "Why the weak kitten act?"

"It's not an act," Jinx said. "You ripped out a part of my soul. I'm holding up pretty well considering."

Looking from her truly ashen face, for Mumbo had seen fit to strip Jinx of all her magical illusions, to the crackling sphere hovering at his shoulder, Mumbo hmmed.

"Chaos magic, extremely potent," he mused and prodded his wand at the sphere. The ball shuddered, and a tendril lashed out and caught him across the cheek. Wincing he said, "Extremely loyal and such control. You would have been born with it in order to be granted host immunity. If you hadn't, it would have torn you apart."

He lapsed back into silent contemplation, but the gleam in his eye and the angle of his smile warned Jinx all thoughts of kindness had fled. It was a statement to the amount of stress Jinx was under that she didn't bite Mumbo's head or hand off when he patted her head.

"Now, now, now, don't worry. You won't miss out on all the fun," he consoled. "Rest up because in a few short minutes, it's lights, camera, and action, kiddo."

He parted with eerily gleeful laughter and a tap on her forehead with his wand. A surge of warmth crept through her being. Something fragile inside strengthened the smallest of amounts, and as her headache eased, Jinx fully comprehended Mumbo's parting gift. He had returned a small portion of her magic. Just enough magic restored so that a tentative equilibrium within her body formed and alleviated her more severe symptoms. But just enough magic to be dangerous; her most volatile spark banked in its original embers.

Cold admiration left Jinx cradled in the hammock's grips. She couldn't use her powers, for if she lost of control the most extreme consequences would occur. Like the ceiling collapsing or spontaneous combustion of her surroundings. That sneaky juggler. She had just enough magic to function, but she would have to stay on top of her magic in order to keep a cataclysm from occurring. She was useless.

Hand to hand defense wasn't completely out, but she needed to be careful, and smart. She wouldn't be able to blast her way out of this misadventure. She would have to think her way out.

Jinx had to admit, Mumbo had an impressive setup. During her recovery the soundstage had been transformed into a set complete with floating camera, mikes, lighting, a wide stage, and audience of gloved hands, a podium center stage, a giant wheel tucked up in the air out of sight of the cameras, and large screen filled with green digital tiles. Ushered to the sole podium complete with her name boldly lit up on the front, Jinx watched the lights dim; the cameras rolled, and she heard the timpani roll fill the air.

A fanfare of trumpets, the sweeping string voices carrying the melody, and spinning lights converged on a single spot onstage as a deep voice from above spoke, "_This is_ the Amazing Mumbo's Marvelous Game Show." Spotlights centered on Mumbo, who bowed and played to the applause coming from the bodiless gloves seated beyond the cameras. "And now, here's Mumbo!"

"Ladies and Gentlemumbos," Mumbo cried, and twirled his hat from hand to hand, "And all of you watching from inside my hat. Today we have quite a show for you. Welcome our contestant, Jinx of the Teen Titans."

Spotlight swinging to focus on her, Jinx allowed a demure smile to cross her face as she ignored the chorus of boos from the audience.

"Her stunning feats of magical talent have made her the perfect candidate for testing out a few surprises we have been working on. And look," a red handkerchief settled over an empty glove. With a flourish, Mumbo whipped away the handkerchief to reveal a familiar pink sphere hovering over Mumbo's hand. "She shall face all of today's events without her magic!"

A gasp echoed from the Gloves. Loud cheers punctuated the thundering applause along with the odd wolf whistle.

"The stakes are high. If she wins, she regains her freedom and her powers. When she loses, she'll never see the outside world again. A rather chilly fate," Mumbo concluded and waved off the second wave of audience approval. "And now," a gesture of the hand and the wheel from earlier descended from the rafters, "to determine her first event, the Wheel of Mumbo!"

The garish colored wheel held sections split roughly into thirds. All bore the grinning visage of Mumbo on the larger pieces.

"Mumbo Jumbo!" Mumbo yelled, and the wheel spun frantically, creaking against its frame as the colors blended together. When the wheel stopped, the marker rested on a lurid red third. With a spray of confetti, the Mumbo face on the wheel burst out of its two-dimensional confines to shout, "Category: Children's Games."

Another burst of applause followed.

Sauntering over towards Jinx's podium, Mumbo tutted at Jinx's eye roll. "Now, now Jinx, no whining. For your first contest," he pulled an envelope from his sleeve, opened and read it then grinned. "You shall play Hide and Seek. You hide. We seek."

She had to ask. "We?"

With a sweeping gesture two quintets of gloved hands popped up along the stage, and Mumbo smugly replied, "We. If I find you, I win. If my helping Hands find you and bring you to me, I win. If I don't find you, I win."

Sitting on the simmering swirl of her temper and magic, Jinx's only offense, and thus defense, prompted her pride. "So how do I win?" she challenged, chin lifted as she stared down her nose at the taller man.

"You don't," a very mad cheshire grin followed. Mumbo spun on his heel and preened to the Mumboville masses. "Our contestant has the smallest window of opportunity to survive the round if she manages to reach the base, her podium, before I find her."

The very toothy grin flashed back for Jinx to admire. "Any questions?"

"Survive—?"

"Out of time!" With a wave of his magic wand, the cameras zoomed in to catch the look of surprise flashing into Jinx's eyes and caught the beginning of a shriek as the floor dropped out from beneath her.

"Run, run, run as fast as you can, Jinx. You can't hide from me. I'm the magic man."

One last smile and they cut to commercial.

* * *

Prompt: Whining


	75. Presto Changeo

**A/N 10-6-11:** _So long_... I think I've been working on this chapter for close to three weeks-ish, but that isn't too incredible since it's such an extensive chapter. The length is due to my tentative arc chapter assignments. I'm trying to wrap up Season 5 by chapter 80ish, and since there is so much other stuff lurking in my head for season 5, super long chapter is the result. Here begins the craziness. And yes, I did go there. Where, well the second pull from Mumbo's hat is my answer.

* * *

Chapter 75: Presto Change-o

Base, as it turned out, was located in the middle of a house of cards. The structure was deceptively delicate Jinx decided. The conclusion was made shortly after her rapid exit offstage sent her sliding down a sloping shaft and tumbling into a wall of cards. Surprisingly, the wall held, and her tumble ceased.

Splayed out on the ground, limbs sprawled around her, Jinx blinked up at the accusing eyes staring at her from the ceiling. The royal flush glared back and began to mutter. The fact that she had fallen into a house of cards began to dawn as Mumbo's voice called from above.

"One minute to hide, kiddo. Then I'm coming to get you! 60, 59, 58…"

Gathering her feet underneath her, Jinx rose and absorbed the maze of colors around her. Cards of every suit and number served as walls. Some cards showed only their backs to her belying the true dimensions of the room. With a fortifying breath, Jinx altered her silhouette by removing the black ribbons from her hair. Pulling the pink strands back into a low ponytail, Jinx nodded at the ceiling and struck out through the house.

Now, how to hide in a house where you stuck out like a sore thumb?

"29…28…"

The first gloves appeared within the last ten seconds of the countdown. At the time Jinx had managed to squirm into the center of a card column. Coiled up like a spring ensconced in the space between the cards and quietly shushing the ridiculous Jack called Any Card, Jinx hid and was found. She went from gesturing quick and painful carnage to Any Card to blink up at the Gloved Hand the size of a hippo hovering over her head.

To her credit, she hadn't screamed. She had barely thought and hardly moved when the world around her exploded.

Multiple versions of 52 card pickup fluttered down from the sky, raining across Jinx's vision as she, the eye of the card storm, watched the hand writhe in pink flame even as her heart pounded in her chest. She hissed, and leapt to her feet. Darting through the shower of cards, a renewal of all Jinx's foreboding returned anew. Her most potent and volatile spark of magic given to sustain her would, of course, be linked to her fight or flight instinct. And backed into a corner with no escape for her to turn to, her brain saw the hand, labeled it THREAT, and reacted accordingly outside of her control. A very honest, automatic reaction.

The crazed magician was not playing fair. All he had to do was sit back and watch for the fireworks in order to find her. Well, he wanted fireworks? She would give him fireworks. With the first spark of pink, Jinx wished him luck finding a needle in a haystack.

Three chain reactions later, Jinx had slunk through what remained of the standing architecture of the house. Hands had and continued to swarm over the west wing of the card house like ants over their kicked anthill. Out of all her previous random acts of destruction, this had proved the most productive and pleasing. But now Jinx had chased off the last horde of floating cameras and diverted the hands. Now, she had to find base quietly without drawing attention to herself.

As if to test her resolve, the beginning measures of _In the Hall of the Mountain King_ wafted through the air overhead. Creeping plucking of the contrabass and the haunting bassoon melody winded in her wake.

…

Footsteps in the hallway. The soft swish of fabric rubbed against fabric, and the flutter of a cape through the air riding the air currents.

The marching bass line pounding out Jinx's heartbeat increased their tempo as she fought for control while trying to remain utterly still. Pressed up against a three of spades and waiting for the next move. The footsteps paused. The presence lingered. Jinx closed her eyes and listened. Then the footsteps restarted their tread, moving further and further away. The smallest of sighs of relief left Jinx's lungs at its absence.

Mumbo must never find out how close he came to finding her.

…

The home stretch between Jinx and base, her podium, was located inside a large, empty ballroom. The whole setup screamed trap to Jinx, but lurking high amid the card rafters of the outside hallway, she couldn't find an alternative. It was obviously a trap, but if Jinx was going to turn the tables on Mumbo, she would need to do it on familiar ground.

So, she would spring the trap.

Jinx fingered the round black pendent dangling from her choker thoughtfully. Go in, get to the podium, and don't get caught. Everything started with her waltzing through the ballroom like she owned the place.

So, she did.

The waltzing in part of her plan commenced easily enough. Lofty ceilings held no shadows or hazes of heat to betray hidden foes which left only the floor. Back pressed against the ballroom wall, Jinx fished up her left sleeve. Her fingers trailed the fabric searching for the hidden zipper. Pulling back the zipper, Jinx smiled as she opened the smallest of the portable pocket dimensions in her wardrobe.

Really the design was very similar to her travel trunk. The zipper kept the magical pocket shut, so nothing spilled out unintentionally, and Jinx had pockets in her clothes bigger on the inside. The only real limit for storage was the size of the opening, for whatever she put inside her hidden pockets had to fit through the opening.

Questing fingers closing over their prize, Jinx smiled, withdrew her hand, and closed the pocket. Sparing an amused glance at the glass marbles cupped in her hands, Jinx knelt on one knee, surveyed the room, drew back her arm, and threw the marbles across the floor. A dozen marbles scattered, rolling across the floor, and Jinx carefully followed in their wake.

Thirty feet from base the marbles stopped rolling. A dozen bounced back a few inches after colliding with what seemed to be an invisible wall, but a few marbles with less momentum then their compatriots simply halted against the obstruction. The outermost marbles of the sweep kept rolling onward uninhibited.

Scooping up a few of the backpedaling marbles, Jinx eyed the still marbles rough semicircle outline. Splitting her amo, Jinx changed angles and threw half of the marbles at the anomaly and walked all the way around until she marked a full circle. After a few quick calculations, Jinx observed the walled off area. Lobbing one of the remaining marbles at the air before her, Jinx ducked as it ricocheted off. Narrowing her eyes in thought, Jinx hastily that rationalized her entertainment value to Mumbo at the moment had far too much potential for him to oust her so early in the game, then reached out and touched the invisible barrier.

Her hand passed through as if through a surface of water and disappeared before her very hands. A gloved hand wrapped around her wrist, and yanked Jinx the rest of the way through. Through the barrier she found herself nose to nose with Mumbo and back on the main stage.

"Found you," he said.

"But can you hold me?" she shot back, and twisting her wrist she pulled her arm free from Mumbo. Her free arm dashed to her neck, and pulled her choker's pendant from the ribbon and cast it on the ground. Smoke erupted, and Jinx twirled out of grabbing range.

Light on her feet and masked by the smoke, Jinx shot across the stage for a brightly shining star, her magic. She ignored the shocked gasps from the audience, the cameras once more hounding her, and the spotlights piercing the smoke in an attempt to track her. Instead she ran and threw the last of her marbles at the Helping Hands emerging from the cloud until the glow and warmth of her magic stirred inside her. She reached out, calling to the floating sphere, and willing it to return to her.

Mumbo intervened.

With a "Mumbo Jumbo!" he froze her in place. A crook of his hand and Jinx's limbs moved outside her accord, so she stood straight. An experimental wriggle left Jinx immobile, and her arms pinned to her sides.

"I win," Mumbo said. With a spark of magic, he pulled Jinx back behind her podium. "But good show. Ladies and Gentlemumbos, give her a hand."

Turning to face the cameras, Mumbo coaxed the gloves into a grudging applause.

"Good show and a very good effort," he complimented and conjured a cane from thin air. Leaning forward he winked. "But not good enough."

Spinning on his heel he walked back towards center stage and looked appraisingly at Jinx. For a magically immobilized girl, she possessed a deadly glare. If looks could kill.

"Let's review, shall we?" the green tiles on the side screen on-stage peeled back to reveal a video clip starring Mumbo's sole contestant. The video started with a close up on pink eyes with vertical pupils giving the hovering camera the same look Jinx now gave Mumbo, the death glare.

"Violent," Mumbo pronounced gravely as the scene changed to show Jinx facing a wall of cards with both hands extended before her, and eyes closed. The recorded girl breathed deeply and steadily with the slightest of creases between her eyebrows belying her concentration. Pink eyes snapped open; a thin glaze of energy covered the surface. A destructive wave of energy shot out of her hands, and the picture became obscured with a blizzard of cards filling the screen.

"Sneaky." This camera traveled down hallways stopping to peer into some rooms and others it searched with diligence. As cries of "Over here, she's over here!" carried from further down a hallway, the camera shot forward and panned the room until it focused on the informant, a joker code. A staff adorned with bells jingled as the joker grinned at the camera.

"Did I say over here?" it asked, and the camera followed the upward jabbing of the staff to the ceiling where it focused on a glimpse of Jinx clinging to the ceiling before a black and pink blur fell through the air. The angle jerked and tilted erratically. A thud echoed through the speakers, and the last picture from the camera before the feed dissolved was of a close up of the floor and the sole of a rapidly descending boot. Jinx smiled at the memory.

"And resourceful," Mumbo finished in a scolding tone as new footage highlighted Jinx's marble trick; specifically the part where Jinx had pulled the glass spheres from her sleeves. "She gave a good fight, but in the end," Mumbo concluded, "I, the great Mumbo, triumphed. But her actions cannot go without consequences."

The audience booed and the cameras drew in closer as Mumbo pointed his wand at Jinx. "Clearly you don't have enough handicaps to make this a fair game, so we'll have to do away with some of your advantages. Presto Change-o!"

A completely unnecessary poof and cloud of smoke later the magic covering Jinx from neck to toe disappeared, and Jinx found herself free to move but with a new wardrobe.

"What did you do to my clothes?" she asked, great concern evident as she examined the cuffed jeans, black t-shirt, converses, and now loose hair with dismay. Mumbo gestured, and Jinx followed his hand to find her dress, tights, boots, and accessories piled by the same pedestal which her magic hovered over.

"Consider them part of your reward," Mumbo said. "_If_ you win."

"Can I at least have a hair tie?" Jinx asked and crossed goose bumped arms across her chest. With a shrug and a pop, Jinx found her pulled back into a ponytail. Fingers curiously examining her mane for unwanted surprises, Jinx spared herself some pity. Minimal sleeves, minimal magic, no magic portals, no lock picks hidden in her boots, and no mirrors. No smoke bombs, or communicator, just a hair tie, some shoe laces and her jean pockets. Talk about a handicap.

"Ok, fine. I've been handicapped. What next?" she scowled at the blue man before her.

Mumbo turned to the audience. "We've taken her magic, her tricks, and her clothes, but she almost, almost could have won despite my marvelous tricks. Have we done enough?" he asked. A deep resounding "no," assaulted Jinx's ears, and she couldn't help but wonder how gloves could talk.

"For her next challenge, Jinx shall compete in a game known as Freeze Tag," Mumbo continued. "Only there have been a few modifications."

Jinx grimaced. Knowing Mumbo, he would make the game into a literal game of freeze tag complete with blizzards and yetis.

"But for such a sneaky, violent, and resourceful witch merely exchanging wardrobes will not slow her down. No, the true handicap for this round will be the addition of another player." Whipping his hat off his head, Mumbo waved his wand, and the radiant sphere of Jinx's magic floated over and inside Mumbo's hat.

"We will find the perfect fellow contestant inside," Mumbo announced then tapped the brim three times with his wand. After the third tap, his wand vanished, and Mumbo reached inside, rooting about until he was shoulder deep inside.

Jinx hid her laughter. "Do you even know what you're doing?" she asked the azure man.

"No questions from the peanut gallery," he chided and hummed under his breath.

"Look, I know the wand drove you insane," Jinx told him frankly, "but really, you're mixing my magic, my potent and loyal magic, with your hat in an effort to find a contestant. Do you have any idea what nightmare you're about to unleash?" Inside her head she was listing all possible individuals that could be pulled from the hat; she was torn between rooting for her mentor to appear and really set Mumbo straight, or having Raven, Robin, or even Cyborg appear.

"Now, now kiddo, the trick to this act has everything to do with connections, magical connections," Mumbo replied and triumphantly pulled his arm out of his hat. "Ah-hah!" he crowed and beamed for the cameras. Chirping crickets and Jinx's snort of fledgling laughter filled the air.

"And what magical connection do I have to a zebra?" she asked, not quite withholding the smirk from her face. At the word zebra, Mumbo looked down and indeed found a white and black tufted mane fisted in his hands and attached to the equine head extending from his hat.

"No," he scolded, shoved the zebra head back in his hat, and began rooting around again. "Slippery, sneaky, spiteful," he muttered, brightened, and withdrew his hand. "What about this?" he asked then looked at his catch. Jinx merely shook her head and smiled as Mumbo looked at the grey rabbit ears fisted in his hand and then at the equally gray rabbit he had pulled from his hat.

The rather humanoid rabbit in question looked at Mumbo, back at the maps in his hands, and sighed. "I knew I should have taken that left at Albuquerque," it muttered then looked back up at Mumbo. "Eh… what's up, doc?"

Mumbo shoved him back inside. "No, no, and no," he muttered flinching then hastily waving his hand in the air as if burned. "Not again." He drew his wand from the air, tapped the brim of his hat three times, and yelled, "Mumbo Jumbo!"

An impressive burst of magic complete with smoke and sparkles shot from the hat as Mumbo reached inside for the third and final time. Gloved hands fisted in hair, and Mumbo smirked.

"Ladies and Gentlemumbos!" Mumbo said facing the cameras. "I give you, her handicap!" and he pulled the person in question out of his hat.

For a moment, Jinx could only look in bemusement at her "handicap". Sure, the guy in question was cute enough, for a redhead, and boy was that mop red, but between the blue eyes and freckles she was looking at a complete stranger.

"Sorry Mumbo, but I don't know him," she admitted.

Jinx permitted herself another curious once over. Cute, tall, toned muscle on the arms, and that yellow t-shirt fit very nicely over his torso for such a lean guy. Red gym shorts coupled with a ragged pair of running shoes completed the guy's attire, but the completely baffled look as he blinked and looked around the stage was simply adorable. An unbidden smile spread across Jinx's face, and she ducked her head to peer at him from the corner of her eyes. Very cute indeed.

Her fluttering reality shattered when the poor, misplaced guy opened his mouth and spoke.

"Uh, Jinx? What's going on?"

The smile vanished from her face, and Jinx really looked at the stranger with the familiar voice. He was in his late teens with the same height, similar body type, and if you took away the baggy clothes and substituted in a skintight jumpsuit to negate air resistance…

Her draw dropped.

"West?" she managed and watched the flash of realization race through his eyes. Then she laughed.

And she didn't stop. Long, loud, hard, and bent over grasping at her podium for support, Jinx choked on her laughter. A shaking hand lifted to point across the room at the redhead, and she dissolved into howls of mirth.

"Congratulations," Mumbo said to the flabbergasted redhead while extending a hand. "I think you broke her," he whispered.

Numbly accepting the hand more out of habit then conscious thought, West yelped at a sudden sting and the dampening of his senses. "What the?"

Mumbo laughed and pirouetted away to attend to his red-faced contestant desperately gasping for air between bursts of laughter, and West noticed with distinct horror the metal band now attached to his wrist. A power inhibitor fit snuggly to his wrist complete with a lock.

"Don't go anywhere folks," Mumbo called, and a rope of handkerchief's shot from the magician's sleeves, flew through the air, and bound West wrist to ankle. "After the next commercial break our second round will begin."

The red lights from the cameras dimmed, and activity around the stage ebbed while Mumbo poofed over next to Kid. Giving him a critical eye, the magician stood nose to nose with the teen then smiled.

"You have three minutes to talk amongst yourselves. Place nice, kiddo," he shouted over to Jinx. A snap of his fingers, and West's bonds yanked him across the stage to Jinx's podium.

A finely trembling Jinx with a horribly suppressed smile greeted the redhead. Said redhead whipped his head back to look at Mumbo. "Kiddo?" he whispered.

"My new nickname," Jinx cheerfully replied. "Hardly appropriate considering the present company." Mischief danced in her eyes. "You know, when you told me a few of your nicknames were freckles and ginger, you really weren't kidding, were you?" The fine trembling dissolved back into giggles. West wriggled and strained against his bands, then gave up with a sigh.

"Well, I'm glad _you_ find this funny," he grumbled then speculatively eyed the edges of Jinx's podium. Perhaps he could cut his bonds.

A wry grin twisted across Jinx's face. "It's either laughter or tears, West. After everything that's happened, I prefer laughter." She glanced at West's makeshift ropes before sighing. "Don't bother. Only Mumbo can break those."

West huffed but stilled when he caught Jinx's eye. Laughter aside, a more resigned look had come to rest on her, and her whole posture reminded him of a flower slowly wilting under the hot sun. "Jinx, what's going on?" he asked again.

The deep announcer voice from before cut off any reply.

"Welcome back to the Amazing Mumbo's Marvelous Game show!"

Beside him Jinx leaned against her podium as if gathering strength beneath a heavy load. Then with a deep breath she straightened, spine straight, head raised, and a jaunty tilt in her jaw. She held herself completely defiant, and West began to wonder what he had been pulled into now that Jinx looked ready to face a war. Her last aside to him only affirmed the assumption.

"It figures. Out of all the people who could have come; it would be _you_."

"I resemble that remark," West quipped hoping for a smile. Whether the smile came or not, he didn't see. Mumbo had reappeared, and with a casual flick of his wand he jerked West across the stage to his side.

"Mumbo masses," Mumbo declared. "Welcome back for Round Two in my marvelous game show. Today we have an exciting new addition to our games. Welcome Mr. West!"

An inordinate amount of confetti saturated the air falling from the rafters accompanied with a fanfare of trumpets.

"So, Mr. West, How do you feel?"

"Uh-"

"Pretty excited?" Mumbo interrupted. "Of course you're excited! You're on the Amazing Mumbo's Marvelous Game Show! You've been chosen to participate in Round Two." Mumbo welcomed the responding applause with a sweeping bow.

Poor West seemed bemused yet fascinated with the audience. "Are those real hands?" he asked the magician, but Mumbo forged ahead.

"Now before we commence with the next round—"Really playing with the suspense aren't you?" Jinx snarked—a quick recap of Round One for our newcomer. Roll 'em."

As the clips shown previously played on the screen once more, Jinx watched the comical climb of West's eyebrows.

"In sum our contestant is violent, sneaky, and resourceful, but that's where you come in." Mumbo clapped West along the back. "And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, Round Two! Hocus Pocus!"

In three consecutive puffs of smoke, they all vanished from the stage. Jinx and West reappeared side by side in the midst of a fenced platform. A soft chime sounded, and the pair looked down to see they were standing on an illuminated circle.

Head craning over his shoulder taking in the considerable dimensions of the playing field, West asked, "So is the showdown downtown the reason why you haven't hexed Mumbo six ways to Sunday yet?"

Head jerking toward the redhead, Jinx looked at him, horrified. "You know about that? And why the gym clothes?"

A shrug and more head craning. "It was on the news, and I was eating." Somehow the power inhibitor seemed to cram the manic energy inside of the boy.

"Are you vibrating?" Jinx asked and poked his shoulder for good measure.

West jerked his arm away and rubbed the offended appendage. "Does it matter? And yeah, you were on the news. A mad guy with a wand escapes police custody, pulls a shining orb out of a Titan's stomach then disappears with the same Titan no less in front of news cameras is going to be on the news." He paused. "The guys were playing it all throughout the base." Trying to size up the city's Titan protector and taking notes.

Pink eyes narrowed, and Jinx sprung. Her left hand shot out and grabbed West's left ear. With an extra dig of nail into the flesh, she yanked the squirming and protesting menace down so she could hiss in his ear.

"We're live right now. _Watch_," another extra dig in with the nail, "what you say," she finished then released him.

A petulant frown on his face West skittered back a few steps while rubbing his damaged ear.

"Well, you're as chipper as always," he grumbled. Jinx spared him an eye roll before elbowing him in the side. Then she nodded toward the ceiling. "Mumbo's here."

Mumbo strutted along the air. "Alright kids, on with the challenge. There will be three stages in this event, and each stage will grow increasingly challenging. All changes will be announced at the beginning of each stage. Break the rules," he warned, "and lose."

Cane appearing in his hand, Mumbo gestured to the four cardinal points of the room. "The four circles are potential bases. As long as a circle is lit, that circle is a base, and you may cower from the tagger there without consequences. Each stage will end when either all the players are eliminated, frozen, or when sufficient time has passed. If you're frozen, you can only be unfrozen by a runner who isn't frozen. If you are tagged off base, you will be frozen. If you are frozen three times in a stage then you're eliminated. Any questions?"

"Who's it?" West asked looking around the empty room. Beside him Jinx tensed the crossed her fingers.

Preening at the question, Mumbo traced a spiral of sparks through the air in front of him with his cane, winked, and stepped off to the side. The spiral began to rotate, blurring then disappearing as the magic solidified into the tiny figure of a child wearing a black dress jacket, a pleated black skirt, white dress shirt, and a red bowtie. As its features defined an icy pallor settled over the child's hands. The lips turned blue, and a domino mask covered the child's eyes. Besides the skirt the only clue to the child's gender lay in the long white hair pulled into pigtails and tied off with red ribbons. Masked eyes opened and peered at West and Jinx.

Mumbo bent down and whispered in the girl's ear. Chuckling, he tapped his cane against his hand and began to rise toward the ceiling. "Play nice, kids," he called and vanished. Hovering cameras began to fill the room, red lights on and recording, West noted. At the soft hiss next to him, he looked over at Jinx's face and noted the angry cloud hovering over her features.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Her hands," Jinx whispered, and swiftly gestured toward the girl. Curiously West followed her gesture and noted with some surprise that snowflakes seemed to be gathering in small piles on the ground beneath the snow white hands of the girl.

"She's going to literally freeze us," Jinx finished.

West didn't have time to reply. The light on their center circle faded, and Jinx promptly turned tail and scattered to the farthest corner of the room from the little girl. Acting on her example, West followed on her heels.

Overhead a five minute countdown began. The first base didn't light up until two minutes had passed. The entire wait, West was sure, was simply to let the audience see him and Jinx squirm. Because that little girl with the bloodless lips and snow white hair and icicle hands was creepy. In fact the child wasn't even a child, but a magical animation, so said Jinx, muck like a golem. In essence the girl, It, was an animated magical puppet whose goal lay in catching and freezing them. It was very bad news.

West's first clue lay in how Jinx kept a considerable distance between herself and the Miss Pigtails. His second clue came when he saw Miss Pigtails running. If anything could convince West that the little munchkin in front of him possessed unnatural qualities outside of her creation, then the sheer acceleration that Miss Pigtails possessed would be that proof. Sure, the girl stalked them around the room trying to trap the pair in a corner or by a wall, but there would be periods where the girl would rocket from standstill to sprinting in seconds. And other times she would jog at a nice age appropriate pace but then a switch would flip, and the girl would grow exponentially faster chasing them about the room.

Two minutes in and when the first base lit up West sprinted for that far circle. He didn't stop running until he'd safely breached the interior of the circle. He let out an unmanly yelp when Jinx plowed into him; letting off a late "Make way" she knocked the pair squarely in the center of the circle. Limbs tangled and chests heaving the two simply lay immobile for a few seconds before Jinx scowled and kicked West in the stomach.

"Get off," she ordered and scooted away. Never mind the fact that she had crashed into him.

West's attempts to reclaim the air she'd knocked out of his lungs prohibited him from answering. Instead he pushed himself onto his feet then into a stretch.

Once he regained his breath he asked, "How long do you think we have?"

"On base?" Jinx replied. She glanced up at the countdown then back at the small figure walking back to the center of the room. "You tell me. If this was a game, and you were toying with a hero, how long would you give them?"

He rubbed the back of his neck then fiddled with the power inhibitor. "Only long enough to catch our breaths. Ten to twenty second."

Breathing deeply, Jinx rested her hands behind her head. "Lovely," she said and resumed taking deep breaths.

He nodded along with the unspoken sentiment before looking back to the girl who was It. No powers, no teammates, and stuck as "West", as Jinx had named him, before a live audience. And It was giving him a run for his money.

The HIVE didn't like slackers, and for the past few years Kid hadn't let himself slack off either. Juvenile correction facilities and arrests would mean power inhibitors which meant all HIVE members had been forced to learn how to fight without relying on their powers. For Kid that meant being a stellar athlete without the super speed. He had built up his endurance and could outrun and outlast any normal six year-old child or fit police officer. He could last but that girl…

"Is she teleporting?" he asked Jinx. "She'll just appear, and my only warning is the chill running down my spine."

"Annoying isn't it?" Jinx cut in and arched an eyebrow. "People appearing out of nowhere just to bug you." She released a deep breath and let her hands fall to her sides again.

"I can count on one hand the people able to move that fast," Kid said. "There's only one person on that list present, me."

"Except you can't move that fast right now," she shot back.

Kid didn't answer. He'd walked right into that one, and instead clued into Jinx moving towards the edge of the circle. So far, Jinx had displayed an uncanny ability to sense Miss Pigtails presence and the activation of the bases. Jinx had started running for the base five seconds before the light came on. If she thought that the time to hover near the edge of base had come, then they probably wouldn't have a base for much longer. In a world where a magician called the shots, Kid was willing to follow the self-professed sorceress' cues.

She had laughed once she put two and two together, matching Kid's voice to the strange face before her. She had heard his voice and realized she was seeing the face behind the mask, and clever girl that Jinx was, she had decided to call him West. She laughed and doggedly avoided answering why she hadn't escaped yet. But one stage in on Mumbo's game show and Kid thought he had an answer.

Sure, he stood before her unmasked, vulnerable, and in a t-shirt and gym shorts, not in the suave and dashing black jumpsuit and trademark black mask covering his face. But like him, Jinx also wasn't suited up. The combat boots, gothic clothes, and imposing hair horns which added to both her silhouette and intimidation factor were gone. Instead the pink hair was pulled back in a ponytail, converses replaced her boots, and jeans and a t-shirt left Jinx better suited to unpacking her room back at her Tower than outmaneuvering Mumbo's machinations. She was just as vulnerable as he was.

"Hey Jinx," he said softly to reach her ears only; he waited to catch and hold her eyes before he tapped his power inhibitor. "He's cut off your powers too," he finished.

Jinx's eyes flickered from Kid's arm back to his eyes, to the scenery in front of her, and then ran. Her feet had only just left the safety of their lit circle before the light drained away and the game resumed.

He couldn't help but wonder is she would ever stop running.

* * *

Prompt: Zebras


	76. Mumbo Jumbo

**A/N 10-21-11**: If last chapter was long then this chapter is monstrous. So many hours spent typing, but I am proud to say I accomplished all I wished and more in the following behemoth. For the inquiring and sharp mind the part of the Mumbo Jumbo arc that I said I laughed when I thought about writing can be labeled as Plan D and is explained sufficiently in text, and I still laugh while rereading or even thinking about it. My basis for Plan D lies in Lightspeed. A particular quote comes to mind: "What will I do? Where will I go?" Here is to Ms. Witch the lovely fellow flinx fan: I love it. It's wonderful and amazing, and no one has ever done that for me before.

Happy reading. I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as I do.

* * *

Chapter 76: Mumbo Jumbo

The first round of freeze tag ended without Jinx or Kid turning into a popsicle. Although by the end of the final minute, Kid's exasperation with the power inhibitor cinched snugly around his wrist had grown to exponential levels. Patience aside, he could run circles around Miss Pigtails without the infernal inhibitor attached, and unfrozen himself, if he indeed would be frozen, and done a million other things except he couldn't. The last minute dragged at him and assaulted his mental endurance. Everything was too freaking slow!

But the round ended. He and Jinx once again stood safely in the lit center of the playing field; Kid slightly winded and Jinx looked grayer. The flush in her cheeks had died, but still the defiant tilt remained in her chin, and the usual infallible air remained.

Mumbo reappeared, patted Miss Pigtails white hair, and gave Jinx a look akin to a predator stalking its prey. The guy in charge knew he has in charge and carried the appropriate amount of arrogance accordingly.

"Hello kiddos, ready for Round two?"

Shifting so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Jinx in a silent statement of assurance, Kid shrugged and gave Mumbo his best flippant insouciance. "Bring it."

"Is that a challenge?" Mumbo asked. The magician seemed positively delighted at the possibility.

Ignoring the angry mutter originating from his side, Kid stepped forward and nodded. "Freeze Tag? Round One was a bore, a pain, and an insult to our considerable abilities."

"Don't drag me into this," Jinx hissed.

The cameras pressed closer perfectly projecting Mumbo uninhabitable glee, West's unshakable confidence, and the livid glare Jinx bestowed on West.

"I accept your challenge," Mumbo grandly acquiesced. Pumping West's hand, Mumbo refused to let go even as shadows rose up from his coat sleeves and twisted up West's arms. Gulping at the whisper of ice trailing across his neck, West jerked his hand out of Mumbo's grip the moment the shadows filled his vision.

"What, hey!" Questing fingers coiled around the silky material wrapped around his head, covering his eyes, and pulled futilely. A blindfold. Surely he didn't.

"What gives?" West grunted even as he tried and failed to remove the blindfold from his eyes.

"In the first stage of freeze tag," Mumbo said speaking past West toward his original contestant. "You neatly avoided my seeker. In this round she is still It, only there has been an addition to the rules."

"West's blindfolded," Jinx stated, her arms crossed against her chest, and the livid look from earlier had mellowed to one of irritated acceptance. "Why should I keep him from being frozen?"

Mumbo ignored the last question to instead impress the new standards upon her. "No touching. There will be no touching between you and _West_ unless for unfreezing. Anything outside of that and you're both eliminated. And Jinx?"

The soft threat lingering in his voice had Jinx quirking an eye in response. "My lovely assistant will be faster this round."

With a parting smile that only the powerful and confident bore, Mumbo vanished with a twirl of his cape. An odd prickling as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end accompanied the unusual presence filling the air. Though restrained the air seemed to shift about West humming with a crackling fierceness all focused on him. His eyebrows lifted accordingly.

"Wow," West said. "I think this blindfold is turning me into an empath. I can _feel_ the ticked look you're giving me."

A strangled tremulous note of frustration filled the air, and West could almost feel the hands wanting to shake or just choke him.

"That," a deep, calming breath, "that is just a side effect to the magic of this place." A deep exasperated sigh followed. A strongly displeased Jinx spoke to him. "If you ever goad Mumbo like that again when we're both at his mercy, I will personally eliminate your stupidity from the gene pool."

Correction, threatened.

West had the decency to act contrite. "That stupid, huh?"

Jinx didn't deign his question worthy of an answer; an answer in itself. A sound of shifting and whispering cloth filled the silence between them. West listened with interest as two distant thuds marked two objects rejection from Jinx's wardrobe.

"Don't move," came the soft warning, but at the odd tickle brushing his hand, West couldn't help but jerk slightly away. The annoyed huff and a feeling of exasperation lingered even as Jinx tried again.

"Don't _move_," she stressed, and the odd brush across the back of his hand repeated. Curling his hand around the object, West traced out a thin plastic tip attached to a dense cotton weave.

"A shoelace?" he asked and tried to picture Jinx barefoot. Two thuds, two shoes.

"Slip it under the power inhibitor and feed me enough lace to tie a knot."

The squeeze was tight, but West managed to feed the end of the shoelace under the power inhibitor's band and leave enough excess length on each end for Jinx to work with.

Padding feet walked toward him, and West finally held still, barely breathing as he felt the soft radiance of Jinx's warmth fill the air. The soft inhales and exhales of her breathing dominated his hearing, and Kid felt his heart rate speed up.

The shoelace shifted, pulled, and drew away from his power inhibitor. A light tug on the shoestring, and Jinx backed away. Kid felt his breathing restart. Another tug on the shoelace and West felt his forearm follow the pull, and he understood.

"So, I'm your new puppy?" he asked and experimentally tugged back at the shoelace knotted around his power inhibitor acting as a makeshift lead.

"You follow me around like one," Jinx shot back. "Hold still," she chided. "I need to tie my other shoelace to your leash."

More tugs commenced, some distant at what West imagined was her end of the shoelace connection, and others closer at the middle, probably where the two shoelaces were knotted together.

"Are your shoelaces red?" he casually asked.

"No, why?" came the slightly defensive answer.

Mind idly wandering to myths of strings of fate, West replied, "No reason."

An odd strain filled the preparations, and another small presence filled with a frigid stillness found on the top of snow blanketed peaks West occasionally ran through entered the room.

"Miss Pigtails?" he asked.

Another round of stronger tugs followed, and then Jinx drew closer.

"Unless you want to become an ice sculpture," she warned. "Follow my lead and do what I say. The round is going to start soon."

Soon in Jinx's dictionary translated to within seconds for a quick command to run straight forward followed swiftly. Abandoning distracting trains of thought, West instead focused on the slightest tugs and hints of direction changes through the shoelace. All boiled down to listening to the rhythm of Jinx's running, turning at barked commands from Jinx, and simply trying to match her without eliminating the pair of them.

He couldn't prevent tracking the icy presence chasing them about the room; the little girl who caused Jinx to turn on her heel and run as far and as fast as she could. The girl who gave West goose bumps.

At times West couldn't help but wonder at Jinx's rationalizing by attaching herself to a temporarily blind guy. Sure West could run with his eyes closed and even in his sleep, but in their current situation the loss of his sight effected his balance. At times they both came within a hairsbreadth of elimination or flash freezing. He would trip, veer off course, or balk because since when had running blind for extended amounts of time been a natural action?

They had tripped onto base once. Jinx had decided to turn ninety degrees in the span of a second and when she went right West, without any verbal or immediate physical warning, had kept heading forward. A shrill yelp of surprise and the shoelace snapping taught between them accompanied with the sensation of West pulling weight along with him had finally clued him in. Of course with little Miss She-Devil Pigtails closing in, West had overcompensated as he attempted to correct his actions and swiftly changed course. The end result had been a quick pinwheel towards Jinx, and ultimately over the perimeter of the newly lit base. Ah, communication issues.

Stage two lasted ten minutes. Watching two teens stumble around the room at a run while evading a dogged six year-old must have been quite the spectacle. But despite the odds, West blinked up, squinting at the painful return of bright light, and he scowled his displeasure at the blue-skinned menace at the center of it all.

"Hmm," Mumbo looked at the pair thoughtfully. Without sparing Mumbo a glance, Jinx set to work untying the white shoelaces, and West watched Mumbo in return.

For a moment Jinx paused in her work to primly ask, "We are allowed to touch now, right?"

Waving her on, Mumbo continued watching the pair a fond smile spreading across his face. A stone sank in West's stomach. Mumbo, smiling. He many only have been part of this circus for two stages into the second round, but Mumbo smiling couldn't bode well. Mumbo proved West's forebodings justified.

"Aren't they cute," the magician cooed and began clapping. "A round of applause for the cute couple."

At West's side untying the last knot by the power inhibitor, Jinx drew still keeping her head ducked and eyes hidden.

"There is a definite spark between the two of you," Mumbo continued and stood there looking at Jinx with a smirk adorning his face and waited.

To West's greatest shock with the proverbial gauntlet thrown between the two, Jinx lifted her head, looked Mumbo square in the eyes, and said nothing. No denial, no anger, no sputtering, or fervent impassioned insults degrading Mumbo's intelligence. Nothing came.

It was almost enough to make a guy hope.

Then Jinx ducked her head again, and West swore he caught the beginning trails of a rosy flush. Almost flew out of the equation.

"Which is why I need to break you up," Mumbo continued oblivious to the undercurrents in the room. "Literally."

The ground rumbled and a clear partition shot from the floor and grew rapidly towards the ceiling cleanly dividing the room and Mumbo's contestants. As unsettling as a wall erupting out of the ground proved, West found the prospect of being stuck on the same side as Mumbo and Miss Pigtails daunting. And so as he found himself doing more and more during this bizarre experience, he shut up and listened.

He observed Jinx in her separate section of the room. She looked ill. The air of haughtiness and complete confidence faltered only when eye contact was made. A slight glazed, vacant look lingered in her eyes. Weary eyes ached with an unspoken pain.

But Jinx was a Titan, and Titans didn't let kooky magicians and juvenile delinquents see weakness. No, Titans used their wits, talents, and teamwork to defy the odds, catch the crook, protect the city, and save the day. Titans didn't crumble in front of their enemies.

So something was up with Jinx, and she was too proud and didn't trust him enough to tell. And the mad magician in front of West simply possessed too much glee for a man with blue skin. Mumbo had a plan unfolding centered on Jinx, and he was drawing out his chuckles by making her undergo challenges. Mumbo's motive paralleled every other criminal the Titans put behind bars, revenge, and the magician decided to drag West right into the middle of the adventure.

Watch, listen, and wait, that's what Kid's power inhibitor forced on him. If Jinx's magical restrictions were similar to his own, then that explained her compliance of Mumbo's schemes. She couldn't do anything presently, so she instead waited for a moment of opportunity.

"For the final stage in our second round our darling duo will be separated," Mumbo announced more to the crowd then to his prisoners. Mumbo ruffled Miss Pigtails hair fondly. "However, since our contestants love teamwork, success in the final stage is hinged on collaboration. While West avoids our tagger under the condition of if tagged then frozen, Jinx will be alone and blindfolded on a separate part of the playing field," Mumbo snapped his fingers and a black scarf wrapped around Jinx's head.

"Each side will have two bases. In order to keep the round going, Jinx must find and stand on her lit base. If she fails to do so before the lit base returns to its unlit state, our tagger will be transferred from West's side to her own. In the event either player is frozen, the unfrozen participant must reach a lit base in order to unfreeze the other. If a player is frozen three times they are eliminated from the round."

Mumbo didn't spare time to ask if his two players had any questions, or if they were ready for the beginning of the round. Instead he popped out of the arena. The time to protest never came, for with Mumbo's departure the light on the center base faded, and the third stage began.

To be frank the third stage was an unmitigated disaster. From the start West was chased around his section of the game floor with Miss Pigtails on his heels. Jinx's magical sixth sense seemed to short out with the blindfold settled around her eyes leaving her dependent on whatever shouted directions West gave her. But from the start the time that the bases remained lit grew progressively shorter; despite West's best attempts or how fast Jinx dared run, Miss Pigtails crossed the dividing barrier, and three tags later a shivering Jinx stood behind her podium on the main stage. Looking on sympathetically from his newly created podium, West eyed the growing puddle around Jinx's feet. He couldn't imagine running blind alone.

"You ok?" he asked Jinx.

The shivering Titan gave him a look that upbraided him for having the gall to ask.

"I was covered in a sheet of ice," she snapped. "_Three times_. How do you think I am?"

"Cold," West quipped a small smile slipping onto his face.

Jinx gave him another of her derisive looks then yelped when an electric blanket, hot water bottles, and a scarf appeared on her. A telltale glitter lingered in the air around Mumbo's wand discernible even across the stage. The magician himself was receiving touch ups on his stage makeup before the final round.

Jinx sighed and motioned to West with a wave of her fingers. "Here we go," she warned and pulled the blanket tighter. In accordance with her warning the lights dimmed, and a spotlight caught and highlighted Mumbo's lanky form.

"How do you make a Titan disappear?" the magician asked his audience. "Why you give them to the Marvelous Mumbo. Let's review the results of the last two rounds and our stakes."

A second spotlight centered on Jinx's podium.

"After proving her candidacy, Jinx plays to win back her freedom and her magic. To do this she must successfully complete two rounds. Round One ended unsuccessfully for our contestant. We then dragged in a handicap for the second round." A third spotlight pinned West in its brilliance. "Together the pair faced three stages of freeze tag. The first two stages ended well for our contestants but in the third…" here Mumbo trailed off and the cameras zoomed in on the shivering Jinx.

"Well, our contestant came to a chilling realization once separated and blindfolded. So for the second round the verdict for her performance is..." Mumbo paused and let the weight of his announcement settle in. Two rounds to win, one round already lost, one undetermined, and one left to try.

"A draw," Mumbo finished. "Neither won nor lost. Neutral. Round Three will act as our determining round for the entire show. Now, the challenge for the third round," Mumbo swept his hat off his head with a hearty toss, caught the brim in his left hand. A flock of paper cranes burst out of the hat's depths and flew toward the ceiling. One solitary crane separated from the flock and fluttered into Mumbo's outstretched hand. A ridiculously happy smile stretched across Mumbo's face after he unfolded and read the paper. "Is a game of Truth or Dare!"

A look of distinct unease crossed Jinx's face, and West couldn't help but wonder how a handicap would fit into the last round. The screen onstage lit up a bright blue, splitting to show a rotating truth or dare icon on the left side of the screen, and on the right side a live camera feed focused on Mumbo's contestants.

"Here are the rules. Rule Number One: In order to win this round all questions asked must be answered _truthfully_, and all dares must be completed fully. The player may defer answering a question in order to complete a dare, or answer a question in place of completing the dare. Rule Two: Any questions presented to the handicap must be answered honestly and if the handicap chooses a dare, our first contestant may personally answer the question first presented or complete the dare in his stead."

Even though his podium lay about a stone throws away from Jinx's, West didn't fail to notice how Jinx seemed to gray at the prospect of the challenge before them. He wasn't thrilled about the turn of events either, but the game continued.

For reasons beyond West's understanding, except maybe to use the first challenge to feel out the following questions, when asked truth or dare, Jinx picked truth, and both were required to answer. For a first challenge the truth proved more of an icebreaker. Jinx reluctantly admitted partiality to the color violet, and West admitted he had long admired the color red, and then ruffled his voluminous mop for laughs. In an attempt to further lighten the tension clouding the round, he also mentioned he'd grown rather fond of the color pink lately. The audience seemed to be the only appreciative receptors of his mood cutting schemes. Jinx avoided all eye contact while trying to pretend the trace amounts of West's newest fond color creeping into her cheeks didn't exist.

For the following query Jinx again chose truth only to hear the question and, flustered, demand to take the dare.

Mumbo attempted to coax her. "Now kiddo, the audience just wants to know,"

"I'm taking the dare," Jinx said leaving no room for argument as a dangerous spark of energy lit her eyes. Mumbo wisely acquiesced and promptly dared Jinx. Jinx spent the next three minutes dancing a jig on-stage while wearing a pink tutu. West carefully made a mental note to find a better way to persuade Jinx to reveal whether or not she had ever had a crush on a certain boy wonder.

However as the round progressed the truths grew increasingly personal, and the dares increasingly impossible. When asked if she owned a pet, Jinx opted for the dare only to back down when Mumbo dared her to disappear inside a mirror. Glowering alternately between the mirror and the magician tauntingly holding the reflective surface, Jinx admitted to having a German Shepherd named Lucky as a pet.

After that question a noticeable shift in the style of dares challenged and truths presented occurred. While the obvious bias in Mumbo's favor and thus Jinx's disfavor had long been prevalent through the entire game, the bias became obvious following Jinx's refusal to vanish inside the mirror. Mumbo deliberately seemed to be fishing for rather vulnerable information.

"Alright kiddos, the next question requires an honest answer from the handicap if Jinx picks truth, so…Jinx," Mumbo waggled his eyebrows with a self-important air of a Master of Ceremonies. "Truth or Dare?"

As had come to be her custom, Jinx deliberated in silence before finally answering. "Dare," she replied, and passively watched West's eyes widen at her change in tune.

As a matter of caution she seemed to try to avoid completing dares issued by Mumbo in order to avoid challenges which required a certain magical control she currently lacked. Yet now the dares seemed safer to complete then answering truthfully.

At the mad grin that spread across Mumbo's face, Jinx feared the worst.

"I dare you," Mumbo began. "To fit a camel through a needle."

Pinching her lips, Jinx furiously tried to think up a clever epiphany to outwit the magician and complete the dare. Yet after a solid minute of stony silence she grudgingly said, "Truth."

"What is your worst memory?" Mumbo asked, and Jinx felt what magic she had left begin to stir anxiously within her at the memory.

Off to her right the on-stage screen displayed the question of truth on its left screen; the right screen switched from her stricken face, to West's clouded features, and finally to an obscenely smug expression on Mumbo's face.

After a final serious consideration of stretching her magic to finely grind a camel into dust and pour through the needle's eye through the narrowest of funnels, Jinx clenched her jaw and ground out her answer.

"Explosions. Lots and lots of explosions. Next?" she looked pointedly at Mumbo.

"The audience requires more than that," Mumbo chided. "For a completely honest answer requires answering the following: who, what, when, where, and why?" A toothy smile gleamed back at Jinx. "Try again."

"I was ten in a car my sister was driving. We were driving across a bridge in California, San Francisco actually. The traffic ahead of us stopped, and people started running past our car screaming. Then the explosions started."

Staring straight at the cameras face carefully blank and chin still defiantly tilted high, Jinx's only betrayal of vulnerability could be found in the soft undertone of remembrance. Yet she stared defiantly on, and a change unfolded. Defiance turned to distance. Emotion and vulnerability hid behind detachment. A colder, harder Jinx emerged, a Jinx who held more in common with Miss Pigtails then the Titan. She stood impenetrable, untouchable behind a carefully crafted mixture of lofty apathy and disdain.

Then West threw one of his trademark curve balls.

Scratching the back of his head, he peered inquiringly at the camera. "In…fifth grade? Yeah, fifth, my class had a field trip in Central City for the day. Part of the fieldtrip included touring a police station. For some stupid reason I was separated from my group all alone in a chemistry lab by a window. It was stormy that afternoon, and well, that was the day I was electrocuted."

Jinx carefully glanced across the stage at West. Despite his nonchalant attitude with his hands shoved in his pockets, a slight tension radiated from West's shoulders, and when they made eye contact, Jinx quickly looked away. He couldn't have. He wouldn't. He did not just imply what she thought he implied. Yet the silent support in his eyes mixed with that odd focus and seriousness. As if he hated the probing questions just as much as she did.

Ducking her head again, Jinx encouraged the rising blush while miraculously not grinding her teeth together. One day she would shove through Kid's thick skull that blind trust and fraternization with the enemy wad Bad, complete with a capital B. Her pounding heart and blush could go hang themselves.

From his spot center stage Mumbo beamed, inordinately pleased with himself and his accomplishments.

"Alright chickadees, next question," drawing a card from his sleeve, Mumbo glanced at it, smirked, then said, "Once again I expect both of you to participate. So, Jinx, truth or dare?"

After a brief mental struggle between he's on a roll, run, and he couldn't possibly ask anything more revealing then last time, Jinx warily answered, "Truth."

"Describe both your immediate and extended family."

"Dare," she deadpanned.

"Are you sure about that?" Mumbo asked an odd quirk in his face.

"What's the dare?" Jinx said in return.

"Well, alright then. You see this wand here, the one you broke in two earlier?" said wand floated in the air to hover over the palm of Mumbo's hand. "I dare you to pick up this wand and cast a spell."

The wand continued to hover, and Mumbo fixed Jinx with predatory attention.

For a moment Jinx looked tempted if the longing stare she gave the floating wand showed any truth. Then she closed her eyes, pinched her lips, and lightly smacked her forehead. Then relaxing she drew on her defenses.

"My parents are gone," she said simply as if reciting off a well learned list. "My sister is gone, and my extended relatives are superstitious jerks."

"Gone?" Mumbo asked with a challenge in his voice.

Steel in her gaze Jinx elaborated. "Dead or assumed both in car accidents. My parents when I was eight and my sister when I was ten. Enough?"

Head tilted to the side in consideration, Mumbo nodded at last and grasped his wand to twirl between his fingers. As one both Mumbo and Jinx turned to look at West.

"To be that specific," the redhead mused. "Mom's alive and kicking. Dad's gone, no siblings, and if I have any extended relatives, I haven't met them. Dad's estranged from his family," he said by way of explanation. "Oh, and when I say gone I mean one day he left on a business trip and didn't come back."

For a moment Mumbo just looked at the two, sighed, and clucked at them as if disappointed. "Quite the pair the two of you. Getting answers out of you is like pulling teeth or persnickety Bunny Raven's out of my hat. Must you fight me at every step?"

Assuming the question fell under the category of rhetorical, Jinx remained silent. Over at his podium West mouthed the phrase Bunny Raven in seeming bafflement. At the lack of response Mumbo again clucked then carried on.

"Well kiddo, truth or dare?"

"Truth," Jinx said her former demeanor and shields restored to their icy glory.

"What is your greatest fear?" Mumbo asked, and his infernal grin grew. "Just you kiddo. This question is just for you."

Without missing a beat or letting a crack slip in her mask Jinx said, "Dare."

"Are you sure about that?" Mumbo asked in a blatant echo.

"Positive."

"Very?"

"Completely."

"Alright then, Mumbo Jumbo!"

The stage beneath Jinx and her podium disappeared. A howling wind rose, and whipped around her thrashing at any exposed inch of skin and causing the magic within Jinx to stir and move as the scenery around her changed. As the winds died a slap of hot air boiled around her rising on its own air currents. The scenery settled, focusing, and Jinx found herself once again constrained, chained specifically, against a metal pole on a relatively small platform with only a metal grill for her feet to stand on. Through the slits of the grill she could see her slightly swaying platform hung above a boiling lake of lava.

"Now that's just not fair," a voice said from behind her, and Jinx froze as clinical observation collided with the realization of who the voice belonged to. "Chained on a descending platform over a boiling liquid? How cliché can you get?"

Kid, no, West.

"Technically it's a molten solid," Jinx noted with forced blankness. "And you're one to talk. Isn't this type of staging supposed to be a classic?"

"But it's overdone," West protested. The ringing of metal sliding against metal sounded, and the chains around Jinx moved with the sound leaving her certain that she was tied up with West.

Brilliant. Just peachy.

West continued on oblivious to her sinking spirits.

"Sure it's a classic, but the method has been exhausted. It's right up there with kidnapping a damsel in distress as hero bait. Classic but unimaginative. He's next going to threaten us, well you, with a grim fate of being lowered slowly into molten lava if you fail to answer his questions. He'll probably monologue about how helpless you are, and how he's the master of your fate or something equally trite. Then we'll break free and foil his evil scheme."

West's voice seemed to brighten at this realization. "Hey, imprisonment is practically over. We're virtually free to go. He signed his own defeat the moment he teleported us over the lake of lava." Mischief danced within West's glee. "So, hero, what's the plan?"

She hated to admit it, but it had to be said. "There isn't one."

A silent, lingering pause.

"_What?_"

He had the gall to sound offended.

"But you heroes _always_ have a plan. You _always_ have something up your sleeve. You _always_ have one last trick. That's how you outwit us and "save the day". That's what makes you heroes, right? You try even when it seems hopeless."

And he did it again. Once again, West managed to blindside Jinx with a glimpse of unforeseen depths and humanity.

"You are one weird kid, West," she muttered then glanced up at the crane their dangling prison hung from. Off on the edge of the lake's shores far enough uphill to avoid the heat and molten rock, Mumbo had set up camp. Hovering screens ringing their metal cage were kind enough to show Jinx their situation.

She could see herself and West tied to a center pole in the middle of what could have been a shark cage if it had been given a magical makeover. While the dimensions of the cage remained relatively the same, their metal pole had been inserted in the center, and the outer walls had been removed. All that remained were the floor and ceiling. The cage itself hung from a crane manned by one of Mumbo's blue-skinned magical animations over on the lake shore. So dangling over a lake of molten lava in a shark cage, minus the cage part, by a giant crane.

"If we could get out of these chains," she said slowly and glanced at the partially obscured access hatch above her. "And out of this cage, we might…"

"Hello kiddos."

Mumbo had returned.

Jinx fell quiet at the sight of floating mikes accompanying their host. Said host stood ten yards away on a hovering sulfuric rock and orbited by smaller black rocks.

"From this moment forward whenever you choose a dare instead of truth, your platform will be lowered closer toward the surface of the lava."

At another blast of heat hitting her face, Jinx finally noticed the trails of sweat trickling down her face. She didn't fail to catch the smug "I told you so" from behind her; instead she settled on placidly glaring at Mumbo.

"However," the magician continued. "If you decide that you don't care for this arrangement," he gestured to the lava below. "You can either answer the last truth, ask for a new truth, or," he leaned forward and grinned suggestively. "or you may kiss your handicap."

Out of all the attacks toward her that day: Mumbo ripping the magic out of her, freeze tag with Miss Pigtails, being frozen by Miss Pigtails, and Mumbo prying into her past, the last affront finally broke her composure.

"What_?"_ she asked a cross of horror and disbelief coloring her oddly high pitched, ah, squeak.

Behind her the chains went slack, and the wonderfully, obliviously deaf West whispered, "Jinx, freak out."

She gladly complied.

It was simply a matter of unleashing the restless, roiling energy compressed within that had built up in accordance with every attack on her. With each flare of anger, dread of fear, and increased pressure on Jinx, her remaining magic clamored for release. And now sufficiently stressed, she let the magic go.

The chains were the first to go. With the outburst of energy waves flaring outwards, the chains fell lax, then in pieces. The second wave stretched out to lash at the infuriating magician that had toyed so cruelly with her, and the cage around Jinx began to shudder. Looking around the pole Jinx caught sight of West clambering through the access hatch at the top of the cage.

"C'mon," he called and extended a hand through the opening. Her hand latching onto his, West pulled her through. From the top of the cage she grasped the cable extending from the hook and looked down. As Jinx feared, waves from her magic continued to ricochet off the metal of their former prison, and stray waves shot down churning the lava.

"If you like living climb!" she shouted at West over the building growl. Then she began shimmying up the cable.

Heeding her warning West climbed on behind her. The pair hadn't climbed far up the cable when the far reaching consequences of Jinx's freak out began to occur. Off on the lip of the lake shore the crane groaned and shuddered. To her dismay Jinx could see familiar pink waves dancing across the crane's outer surfaces. When the latticed boom began to list Jinx took it as a sign of her magic's chaotic meddling.

A loud crack wrought the air, and Jinx found herself plummeting with her hand holding onto a lax cable. Eyes darting about Jinx felt something, someone, clamp onto her ankle, and she saw a sight both beautiful and horrible. Rushing up to meet their fall, its surface gleaming with magic, came a mirror.

The two fell through the mirror's glass like stones through water. First the mirror swallowed West, and the magic within its surface reared up to gulp Jinx down as well; except with her passage into the Mirror Realm, Jinx felt a curl of recoiling magic, and the glass shattered.

This trip into the Mirror Realm started on a blue ribbon-like pathway that coiled in an endless maze from mirror to mirror. The pathway sunk to accommodate Jinx's hasty landing, absorbing her weight, and letting her bounce to a gradual stop. On his feet ahead of her West examined the realm around him.

Jinx spared herself a moment to deal with the magical backlash and sudden wave of nausea. There wouldn't be magic in her immediate future if she cut loose like that again. Pushing herself to her feet she moved quickly down the pathway.

"We need to keep moving," she said as she approached West. "Mumbo wants us in this mirror. By the looks of it we're in a closed mirror system."

"A closed mirror system?" West inquired even as he fell in step alongside easily out-pacing her with his long strides.

Jinx gestured to the pathway beneath their feet and the sparse amount of mirrors the pathway led contained.

"There are a limited number of mirrors attached to this pathway. Since Mumbo brought us here the rest of the mirrors are probably in his control. All he has to do is break the connection to the Mirror Realm, and we'll be stuck here. What better way to disappear then to trap us inside a mirror for all eternity?" She frowned at their pace. "We should be running."

They ran down the twisting suspended pathway toward distant stars. When the sounds of breaking glass started, West grabbed Jinx's arm and pulled her along as he poured on speed. The run turned from a controlled dash into a headlong rush. A dance between high speed and an eerie certainty the smallest of mishaps would send both hurtling out of control.

Shooting past the first wave of fading, shattered mirrors, a sinking certainty began to settle. Mumble was closing the pathways. They would either be trapped in the Mirror Realm for Mumbo's future convenience, or they were being strung along toward another trap.

No more.

"Dloh!" Jinx cried and willed the resulting hex to provide massive havoc for Mumbo by letting them escape. The hex shot down the path illuminating a previously masked mirror. As if reading her intentions, West followed the wave through the newly revealed exit. They burst through a wide vanity mirror lined with light bulbs with a rain of broken glass as the mirror shattered with their passage.

Sagging to her knees, Jinx nearly vanished underneath a tidal wave of faintness and nausea. As it was she was confident she dry heaved, and she felt the last pool of her magic under her control trickle away. Drained to the dregs with only a scan amount of her rationed magic left Jinx felt the world around her twist and turn everyway.

They were doomed.

Someone was saying her name.

Pink eyes lifted from their intense scrutiny of the shifting ground and with some effort met large blue eyes intent on her. Very pretty eyes more blue than green now.

"…Jinx?"

Right, West, no Kid, had those blue eyes. Those blue eyes swirling with worry.

He'd asked her something.

"What?" she mumbled all coherence lost along with wherever her focus had disappeared too.

A certain degree of relief shone at her response to his question for some of the lines between Kid's eyes disappeared, but he still focused on her intently.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

Jinx paused and tentatively rearranged herself to sitting cross-legged on the floor instead of crumpled over. As the world began to right itself and the levels of her discomfort began to ebb, she hesitantly nodded. "A bit."

"You're white Jinx," Kid quietly replied, and Jinx began to realize how close he was crouched down beside her. Since when had he been allowed to place his hands on her shoulders?

"I just used up the last of my magic." Close enough to the truth. "Of course I turned white."

Kid shifted beside her so that he too sat next to her. Oddly enough he placed himself between her and the door. She wearily glanced about the room searching for some distraction from the eminent questions.

Kid had questions. Of course he had questions. No one who appeared halfway through the Amazing Mumbo's Marvelous Game show walked away without having questions.

They were in a dressing room, or at least so indicated the closed wardrobe off the side of the room, the scattered props, and vanity indicated; meaning they probably appeared somewhere in Mumbo's studio backstage. From beside her Kid finished his cursory inspection of the room, and satisfied that all noises beyond the dressing room door remained nonexistent, he pinned his blue eyes back on Jinx for another double whammy of the serious face.

Serious boys with red eyes and blue hair… No, serious boys with red hair and cornflower blue… No, just no.

She was doomed. They were doomed, and the doomed boy beside her was corrupting her already precarious focus. Doomed, all of them.

"I get that Mumbo's trying to take you down," Kid began shifting to face her.

"More like get revenge for breaking his wand with a side dish of playing mad magician," Jinx interrupted. Oh, coherency, hello!

Taking her comment in stride Kid continued, "And make you conveniently disappear," an odd crease wrinkled his forehead then, "but what I don't get is why you have had two chances to escape and didn't take them."

That drew her up short.

"Sorry, what?" she asked as she tried to recount how she'd missed two prime escape opportunities.

A humoring look on his face, Kid elaborated. "Back during the truth or dare session. For one dare Mumbo offered you a mirror to disappear through, and for another he dared you to cast a spell with his wand. You could have escaped through the mirror, or hexed him with the wand and gotten the upper hand. So why didn't you?"

"Why ask if you already know the answer?" Jinx replied. "It was a trap. I didn't have enough control over my magic to get inside the mirror, and if I did Mumbo probably would have imprisoned me in there. As for the wand, well, it's cursed."

Here West perked up and scooted closer to Jinx. "I smell a story."

Looking at her hands Jinx remembered. "Mumbo's wand is a magical parasite. It needs a host, someone to wield its magic, but only someone of magical descent can be a host. It doesn't matter how great or little the ability, if a person with even a drop of magic in them picked up the wand, and wielded it…; well, all magic comes at a price. For Mumbo it drove him insane."

"And turned him blue," West added.

She nodded. "And turned him blue. Ideally a host with strong magic would be what the wand would want for an owner, but people with great magic are usually aware of their abilities and have strong defenses. They can choose to reject the wand, but if someone's magic has been ripped out of them and their defenses have been decimated," she trailed off and continued to stare at her hands.

"It was an obvious trap to goad me into answering the truth. I wasn't going to trade my freedom for insanity," she said finally looking up to meet West's eyes. "The wand is cursed. If I picked up that wand without my magic to protect me, there would be no going back. I doubt even my mentor could help me then."

Looking over at her West broke his thoughtful silence. "What if I picked up the wand?"

Deciding she felt a smidgen better, Jinx stretched out her arms, arched her back into the stretch, and then smirked at West. "You don't have a drop of magic in you, West. The wand would just be a prop for you. But I wouldn't do it anyway."

Rising to her feet a certain note of satisfaction rung when Jinx noted only a mild wash of dizziness followed her standing. Failing to notice the keen attention of blue eyes following her, Jinx allowed West to rise and hover by her side.

"There's only one person on the show important enough to have a dressing room, West," Jinx carefully said. "If we want to get out of here, then we should poke around for something useful."

Breezing over to the wardrobe, Jinx pulled open the doors and pretended she didn't feel West watching her every move. Even though he couldn't see the action, she rolled her eyes. Sure the concern was flattering, but they had bigger things to worry about. At the sound of drawers opening and closing behind her, she plunged into the wardrobe.

"How many suits does one magician need?" she grumbled after her third suit into the collection. Turning out pockets and fishing up sleeves for anything useful, Jinx replaced suit number three for suit number four when West spoke.

"So what's the plan?"

Cherry bombs, ribbons, magic coins, flowers.

"Stop Mumbo and get out," she answered and shook the perfectly pressed pants again for any lingering magical oddities.

"Lacks detail."

"It's adaptable," Jinx lightly defended as she investigated the jacket pockets inside and out. "You'd be surprised how simple our best plans are." Lint, tissues, breath mints, peppermints, a flock of birds. "If you want details then consider this. Mumbo's wand needs to be broken to stop the game show and let us escape, and I need my magic back."

With an emphasis on need not want; the sooner she got her magic back the better. "I have a distraction in the works, Plan D, which will only be put into effect if there is a chance of escaping."

Fishing up the right coat sleeve, Jinx found playing cards, loose threads, a pair of handcuffs, and a saw. Moving over to the left Jinx pulled out a rose, a candle, a shower of glitter, and then her fingers brushed cold metal.

"Plan D?" West questioned.

"Yeah," Jinx replied as she pulled the small, metal piece out of the jacket's sleeve. A key about the size of her thumb fell into her palm. "I've been working on Plan D since Freeze Tag. It'll be pretty obvious," she trailed off distracted.

She'd seen this kind of key before. Tilting her head in consideration, Jinx pocketed the key, the cherry bombs, and peppermints along with a stray paperclip. After unceremoniously shoving the suits back into the wardrobe, she walked over to the shattered mirror and picked up a stray piece of glass.

She looked as horrible as she felt. While no longer white, she'd resumed a rather sallow tone to her skin; popping a peppermint in her mouth, Jinx watched the smallest amounts of pink return to her cheeks. She fought a sigh. With the amount of magic in her system now she had an hour maybe two before she relapsed back into weak kitten mode. And she had West hovering around her in some misdirected sense of compassion.

_That's what makes you heroes, right? You try even when it seems hopeless._

Stupid, cute, insightful delinquent.

She flinched. She wasn't supposed to think of him as—no, nope. Not going there. Especially…

The air stirred, and Jinx turned towards West who was rifling through the different piles of props littering the dressing room floor.

"Incoming," she managed to hiss before the walls disappeared around them.

Closing her eyes Jinx reached down for the strength to face Mumbo. She reached, caught, and held. She was gray. She was sick from the absence of her magic, but she would pull through. Eyes aflame with the last shreds of her temper, Jinx turned and faced Mumbo. This was the final round. Winner take all.

"Kiddos, I found you," Mumbo mocked as he swept into the room. With two jabs of his wand, the dressing room vanished around them to reveal the main stage. And there hovering in the air all around like a cloud of gnats were the cameras.

"Well, Jinx," Mumbo said walking forward across the stage so they stood practically nose to nose. "Running away can be seen as a forfeit, an admission of loss. Unless you wish to participate in a Bonus Round for a chance to keep your eligibility?"

Infallible and stubbornly turning possibilities of escape over in her head, Jinx's stared him down when at last a missing piece clicked in a quiet epiphany.

"Actually," Jinx said and shifted coyly away from Mumbo to face West. "There's something I want to say, to West."

Practically humming with curiosity, Mumbo nodded, and Jinx let the rapid beating of her heart carry the conversation.

"I'm not good with feelings or boys," she admitted haltingly and ducked her chin in an attempt to hide the flare of embarrassment blazing across her face. "Especially when it deals with feelings I have for boys, but…"

A deep steadying breath and she plunged onward.

"Oh West, I've been so blind, so stuck on petty grudges to admit the truth." Earnest pink eyes locked with shocked blue, and Jinx took several steps across the stage closer to West. "I've failed to see what's right in front of me. Who's right in front of me," she shyly shoved her hands in her pockets and peered softly through her eyelashes up at West.

"It's you," she whispered. "It's always been you. Ever since we first met I could never forget you." Voice unsteady she gently held West's hands within hers, palm clasped to palm and squeezed. "No matter how hard I tried to ignore you, you were always there. And now, I'm not going to try anymore."

Reaching up she grasped West's face in her hands and pulled his face down to meet hers.

The audience collectively gasped and broke into wild cheers and applause. Even Mumbo joined in with teary clapping.

"Ah, young love. Isn't it beautiful?" the blue magician sniffled to the closest camera.

After a moment of frozen shock, West seemed to recover his senses and reciprocate. One hand reached up to tug the ponytail out of Jinx's hair letting soft waves fall down her shoulders; then he gently cradled her head. The second hand slid up to bury itself in her hair, and he pulled her closer against his chest.

Finally after a small eternity the two pulled apart. West awarded Jinx a triumphant grin. They promptly disappeared after that. In fact the only mark of their presence was a lingering gust of air teasing past Mumbo's face, and realization slowly began to dawn on the magician. He'd been had.

"Hey, Mumbo!" shouted Jinx.

Spinning around Mumbo saw Jinx across the stage with a truly mischievous smile on her face as she cradled a very familiar sphere of pink magic in her hands.

"I win," she finished, and the magic sunk beneath her skin restoring a healthy flush to her features.

"Well played," Mumbo called barely ruffled as he whipped his wand out and pointed it directly at Jinx. "But I—,"

A gust of wind sent Mumbo toppling over and a smug redhead spoke. "Lose."

Leaping to his feet the magician fumbled for his wand to find it replaced with a stick. Off to the side West waved said wand tauntingly then promptly snapped the wand in two.

"No!" Mumbo bellowed even as the blue skin, his mask, and hat vanished revealing the man behind the Amazing Mumbo. "But how did you?" the formerly Marvelous Mumbo asked as worn brown overalls replaced his grand suit, wrinkles relined his face, and gray shot through his hair.

West tossed a glittering metal band in the air, caught it, and twirled the band around one of his fingers before dangling a key from his free hand. He grinned cheekily. "We just found the right key. Nice hand off," West said and waggled his eyebrows at a spot over Mumbo's shoulder.

The former magician looked behind him and gulped. With the breaking of Mumbo's wand, all his spells ended, and Jinx had been restored to her Titan glory complete with a devilish smile on her face. A few quick seconds later, Jinx stepped back and admired her work, a not so amazing Mumbo hogtied with his own ribbons.

Dusting her hands off in satisfaction she glowered at the man for good measure. Pulling her formerly confiscated communicator from a hidden pocket in her dress she checked their location.

"Looks like we're in the warehouses by the docks," she mused aloud. "And since your wand's broken so are your wards, and that means less cleanup for me. So tell me Mumbo," she crouched down beside the unhappy man and gave him her most wicked smile. "How do you like mirrors?"

For whatever reason there was something in the smile Jinx gave Mumbo that had him quivering in his bonds. A short while later to the utter delight of Jump City news reporters and local law enforcement, a certain pink-haired Titan emerged from a fragment of broken glass in the middle of her own abduction site and threw Mumbo and a plastic bag containing his snapped wand at the surveillance squad car. With a jaunty salute, Jinx disappeared back in her mirror and returned to her Tower.

But that event hasn't quite come to pass yet.

First Jinx would smile down at a newly gagged and ear-plugged Mumble still lying hogtied on that empty warehouse floor. He had given her a lot of trouble over the past two and a half hours, but she had finally pulled through. Celebratory ice cream would be required or maybe pizza.

The smile of satisfaction dipped at the sound of a throat clearing behind her, and the person Jinx least wanted to deal with reminded her of his presence.

"So…," West began an odd smirk and glow of satisfaction filling the air around him.

Squaring off for another round of battle, Jinx turned and crossed her arms. "So," she echoed.

"Where did you pull the communicator from?"

Blinking, Jinx looked at the communicator in her hand and tucked it back into the special pocket in her skirt.

"A pocket," she answered. "It's useful to have pockets, so I have pockets."

She sounded like a babbling moron, but she quite liked her special, magical pockets. They were just bigger on the inside much like the pockets in her sleeves.

"Uh-huh," West said, clear skepticism coloring his tone. "Pockets."

"Look about the Truth or Dare Inquisition," Jinx said in a not so subtle attempt to derail the guy's train of thought. "Everything I said is on a need to know basis. If you don't know, then you don't need to." She took a step toward West and glared as fiercely as she could up into his face complete with the pink hex energy.

"I know, I know. You'll hunt me down, inject caffeine into my system, flay me alive, and slam me into The Slab down in Antarctica, gotcha," West replied in the type of bored monotone that spoke of having listened to a thousand similar lectures. "And you'll have every right to spread my dirty laundry around. We're still even Jinx."

Seeing no sign of deceit in him, Jinx let the glow fade from her eyes, nodded, and stepped away placing more distance between them.

Of course West wouldn't stand for that. "So about that spark between us," he said merrily. Jinx froze mid-step and closed her eyes.

"I'm flattered Jinx. I really I am. I had no idea how you really felt about me. And the kiss, wow, that's one for the record books."

"It's called sleight of hand," Jinx began eyes open and temper rising dangerously close to the surface. "Misdirection and we didn't _kiss_."

"Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that," West said a wide grin spreading across his face. "Apparently, ever since we first met you couldn't stop thinking about me."

"You _kidnapped_ me, West," Jinx retorted. "That's the basis for a deep, abiding hatred not a crush."

"But you kissed me anyway," he teased.

With an exasperated sigh and massive eye roll, Jinx summoned up the remnants of her patience. "It was a stage kiss. It only looked like we kissed. My thumbs were covering your lips and prevent lip contact. And that was a cover for the key I placed in your palm so you could unlock your power inhibitor and escape Mumbo's Marvelous Bonus Round."

"But you thought about kissing me," West pushed. "Out of the million ways you could have passed me the key and escaped Mumbo, you had to kiss me."

Jinx turned on her heel and stalked away muttering about arrogant, conceited, pompous, ingrate redheads. There may also have been something about choosing her battles and blind boys, but West ignored most in favor of saying, "You're cute when you're angry, you know."

The full face flush combined with Jinx's angry, "Words cannot describe the utter dislike I bear for you," proved immensely gratifying.

"Oh Jinx, one last thing," West called as he darted over beside her in one quick super speed burst. "Did you ever have a crush on Robin?"

"I hate you!" she snarled in return eyes flaring fluorescent pink.

"No you don't," he replied laughing as he dashed away the world slowing behind him. The "you saved me," trailed behind him.

"That, that Kid," Jinx hissed to the empty warehouse. A firm scowl on her face she withdrew a mirror from her boot and primed it for access and transport through the Mirror Realm. A quick glance over at her hogtied prisoner, and Jinx pulled out her communicator and contacted the Tower line.

"Hey Cyborg. Yes, I'm alive. Yes, I'm ok. No, I wasn't turned into an animal. Yes, call off the cavalry _and_ the search party. It hasn't even been three hours yet. I'm _fine_. Everything is golden. I just need to drop off one magic-less magician."

A pause.

"What do you mean a volcano erupted?"

* * *

Prompt: Access


	77. Puzzle

**A/N 10-28-11:** Another breadcrumb for the trail I've littered through my written chapters. I have this horrible feeling that chapter 78 is going to be another horrendously long chapter. An interesting and exciting chapter but _long_. If this proves to be the case then the update may not occur next week.

* * *

Chapter 77: Puzzle

Out of all the former students of the HIVE See-more considered himself the only student with the ability to see clearly. Like his name suggested, he saw more than his peers. He was more than the creepy kid with the big, solitary eye on his face. With the right setting and proper preparation he could extend his sight into x-ray vision, shoot laser beams, view the world in infrared, use his eye as a balloon to float above and spy on the city, and even regenerate his eye if needed.

See-more saw through walls, through people, and at times through lies. He saw the giddy look on Kid's face whenever the love-struck buffoon thought about a certain Titan. He also saw the potential for shifting allegiances and rifts among his teammates if he didn't keep rigid control. But he always saw things with a basis in reality. Not visions of events that never happened. His abilities resulted from unethical underground experiments not from the supernatural. Yet he saw.

The change had begun after meeting the Titan Jinx over a year ago in the middle of a heist. After using his x-ray vision to check the progress of his teammates in the middle of their heist, See-more had seen both Mammoth and Gizmo incapacitated and restrained. He had seen the girl presumably responsible and wouldn't have believed his eye without previous experience in learning how tough and vicious his female classmates could turn. So he had sneaked into the store with every intention of apprehending the girl lingering at the scene of her crime, bind her up, rescue his less then competent teammates and complete a successful heist.

He had almost succeeded in sneaking up on her. After sizing up the girl's black clothing and gravity defying hair, See-more had revealed himself all the better to gloat at her. His last memory had been of startled pink eyes matching the outrageous hair and lifeless gray skin. He'd only caught a glimpse of her face but that handful of seconds proved enough to catalyze a cascade of ghosts. An inundation of knowledge unfolded in his mind of impossible people and actions that had never happened. Relentless ghosts but merely fantasies. If he hadn't been so stubborn in holding his grip on reality, then See-more would call himself insane.

Processing the images and impressions into a coherent order took months part of the reason why he had ended up in solitary. With a flood of impossible images saturating his mind, See-more hadn't been on his best behavior or using his mind to its full extent. Hitting that guard had been dumb.

News had trickled into the prison of a rising star in the hero world, an ally of the Titans. A hero who cast misfortune on her targets, a slim girl with pink hair and cat eyes.

Impossible but out of all the impossible things See-more saw a talented, ambitious, pink-haired girl took center stage complete with a quick temper and haughty confidence. A girl with tenacity who intimidated, manipulated, yet inspired her peers. This girl wanted to be the best.

But this girl had no qualms about soiling her hands in the underbelly of society and sneered at heroes and their precious morals and rules. This girl led. This girl was supposed to be a former student of the HIVE and an early graduate to boot.

Impossible

And yet the impossible girl bore the face of the Titan from the mega-store and the rumors, and both the Titan and HIVE student shared the same powers and name.

Jinx

Denial had been his closest friend those first months in prison, but as See-more had adjusted to the onslaught and began to see an order in the madness he wondered. He hadn't fought tooth and nail to claw to the head of his class, and early graduation no less, without using his head. In fact his practice of thinking outside the box had given him an edge in the power struggles within the HIVE. So stuck in solitary with only white walls to disturb his thoughts, See-more had asked what if?

What if there was some truth in the impossible? What if there was a motive behind these images, these memories? Were they a deliberate implantation or curse to sabotage him or an attack from an old enemy? Or were they a boon?

Well, he couldn't properly explore his questions while in prison, so See-more had sent out the order for the jail break. Once free See-more sequestered himself from the HIVE 5 as necessary and plunged into research. Keeping his work quiet became imperative as See-more sought to keep the impression that he hadn't gone completely bats during his incarceration.

The fuel behind his research lay in the uncanny coincidences that cropped up once See-more finally sketched a rough time line out of the haunting images. In fact the same uncanny coincidences led him to draw out his past and compare. Two infiltrations into the HIVE by the Teen Titans, one evil mind-controlling Headmaster, the same classmate playing double agent to joining the Titans and eventually leading Titans East, one Bumblebee, and finally the formation of the HIVE 5. If See-more stepped back from his computer screen and looked at these checkpoints as landmarks, then his memories and the impossible memories shared common major events. The impossible began to no longer seem so impossible until See-more began to look at the details.

In the details came the starkest difference, and See-more much preferred his memories and experiences then those recently bestowed on him. For if his hunch was right then the impossible memories were also his. He just never before experienced the events playing out in his mind.

Here in reality See-more led. He commanded respect. He had a purpose, a goal, and a team that followed his orders and lead. He called the shots. He laid down the plans. He wove his teammates' talents together for nefarious schemes.

But the other him, the impossible him, remembered things that did not happen. _He_ was weak. That cyclops had been lazy and loyal. There had been no driving ambition to claim the top and trample beneath his feet any who dared to think of trampling him underfoot. No grand goal had guided that him. No discipline and that him had listened to _her_. That cyclops had cared for her.

And she had thrown it in his face, ground his heart beneath her platform heel, and left. To where, well See-more didn't know yet, or why. Too much pain clouded those specific details, but he did remember the effect on that him. For his impossible parallel that had followed and cared for the impossible girl, her betrayal had implanted that chip of bitterness and cold drive that See-more had personally developed shortly after his enrollment into the HIVE.

Hidden in his room barricaded away from the rest of the HIVE with his own encrypted files and log stored in his helmet, See-more began to outline two time lines and lined them side by side as he documented and clarified the muddled mess of borrowed impossibilities. Clearly defined on one side were his life, important landmarks, and corresponding events. Beside his time line he began the Prime Line. Not prime as in the better or best line, but prime as in the time line of what never happened.

He also set up files and time lines comparing Titan Jinx and HIVE Jinx pulling whatever intelligence he could gather. Also tacked up to a bulletin board, See-more compared himself to the other him in comparison of their memories. Almost as an afterthought due to a present yet baffling compulsion, See-more also tacked up a spot for Kid. Kid's time line hung on the left and Kid prime's time line on the right. See-more didn't add anything to Kid's comparison chart or time line. Oddly enough he didn't have anything to compare, not even from an impossibly memory. Then the realization dawned that his impossible parallel had no memory of Kid. Not like his parallel had memories of Gizmo, Mammoth, Billy, and Wykkyd.

For a long moment See-more stared pensively at the empty space between Kid and Kid prime feeling as if he had been given a key he had yet to find a lock for.

* * *

Prompt: Bats


	78. Lightspeed, Part 1

**A/N 12-2-11:** So my original awesome idea was to have Lightspeed be its own chapter, so I started writing, and things kept getting longer and longer. Shortly after my muse went on strike, and once I coaxed my muse back we were still at odds (Muse: I'm ignoring you; Me: No, I'm ignoring _you_!). Finally many weeks later I came to the grudging conclusion that I needed to split up LS into two parts hence the update. However finals and the end of the semester loom on the horizon so the unwritten part two may become a Christmas present. Excuses aside please enjoy the eighteen pages I've managed to produce.

* * *

Chapter 78: Lightspeed, Part 1

Two weeks later Jinx still felt the aftershocks from her run in with Mumbo. Returning to the Tower and retreating to her room had given Jinx the leeway to work through her harried emotions. Cyborg, after briefly hustling her down to medbay for a brief check out, left her to work out the events while simply reminding her to fill out the report. He had left three days later, his work complete, at Jinx's insistence. With the Tower security restored and upgraded Jinx had resumed her duties as a Titan. But eleven days after Cyborg's concerned departure and the warm reminder for her to call in back up if she needed it, Jinx still hadn't completed her report.

She fully expected raised eyebrows. For whatever reason whenever magic mixed with Titan business incredulous eyebrows seemed to raise and stay raised, but most Titans had seen enough unusual things to scratch the back of their heads and accept the weird. Even Jinx's short stint working alongside the Titans had included a few eyebrow raisers.

The basic outline had been established. Mumbo had defaced downtown committing acts of robbery, disturbing the peace, and resisting arrest, among other things. The clip of her tossing Mumbo hogtied out of a mirror had gone viral so that summed up the end. She had even written out the hide and seek round, and Mumbo's challenge and efforts to trap her.

Then the first round ended, and Mumbo pulled a wild card from out of his hat. Enter her dilemma enter West. For whatever reason, whenever Jinx thought of the events that stretched from the beginning of the second round to the end of Plan D, she wished to bury her head in her hands and groan. She had, actually.

On one hand she could be meticulously and brutally honest. She could add to Kid's file the information over how he gained his powers, presumably, the vaguely implied dysfunction of his family, and even add in his supposed surname, West. Was it really so hard to admit Kid had been dragged into her trials in his civilian guise, and she been gained into his character? Yes, apparently it was.

She refused to contemplate writing down Plan D and her reasoning behind it. Robin would chew her out for trusting a member of the HIVE to work with her and not leave her behind at the first sign of freedom, for being that naive, and for putting herself in a compromising position. He would be one to talk after his brief truce with Red X, but Jinx still felt a compulsion to bury her head in her hands and groan whenever she thought of writing out the plotting and execution of Plan D.

How was it she had completely missed how embarrassing the consequences of the plan would be? Of course she had rationalized the plan had greater chances for success and accepted the risks, but how had she missed the complete embarrassment that would follow? She could already hear the snarky comments.

Narrowing her eyes at the screen before her resentfully, Jinx sighed and fully took advantage of her sprawled out posture on the couch to embrace the cushions. She would do this. She would write that Kid was dragged to hinder her progress, and after calling a _temporary_ truce they worked together to escape Mumbo. She would finish the report like a good babysitter watching over the city and then practice her cartwheels and tumbling. She would.

Fingers hovering over the key board Jinx breathed a sigh of relief when the main screen began the flashing red for an alert. Lolling her head to the side, Jinx scanned the screen and smirked. Apparently, the HIVE 5 was at it again. Saving the report, Jinx closed the screen. She would finish the report, later.

Sparing a moment to absorb the details of where the HIVE 5 had been silly enough to trip a silent alarm, the Jump City Museum, and what they had gotten up too exactly, robbing said museum, Jinx slid off the couch and stepped through a specially placed mirror with the briefest flaring of her magic. Perhaps today would be the day she pounded through the HIVE 5's skulls not to mess around when she kept watch.

…

"You're twitchy tonight."

Suppressing his yelp of surprise, Kid failed to stop his flinch at the voice in his ear. Looking over his shoulder, Kid caught and held See-more's gaze and shrugged.

"Just twitchy, I guess," he admitted to his team leader. "It's too quiet."

Around him Kid's fellow teammates paused in their various stages of pilfering to glare at the speedster.

"Don't say that," Gizmo hissed from overhead. "Security's down and the museum won't know what hit until they open for the morning. Are you trying to –,"

A Billy darted over to the hovering boy and slapped a hand across his mouth muffling the rest of his sentence.

"Don't say her name," the Billy whispered. He shot darting looks around the museum as if expecting an unnamed phantom to appear with the summons of their name. "I am not digging myself out of another dumpster again."

Over by the exhibits holding the animal sarcophagi jars holding mummy guts, as Gizmo had labeled them earlier, the trio of Billies nodded in fierce agreement with their clone. Even Mammoth paused his looting to glare at Kid.

Sensing upheaval, See-more smoothly cut in. "Wykkyd, your shadows are holding?" he asked the reticent HIVE member who had been specifically asked to use a portion of his powers to block any reflective surfaces within the museum. At his name, Wykkyd nodded, and See-more looked over at Gizmo. "Gizmo deactivated the security system. No one is coming, but _if_ they were, we have a plan."

With their fearless leader's assurances, Billy released Gizmo's mouth and all went back to various stages of removing the exhibit of its gold, jewels, and priceless artifacts. Walking over to examine the ancient pottery display, Kid paused by a central display case holding a jeweled pendant in the shape of an eye with a gleaming ruby pupil. Reading the description, Kid whistled at the so called good luck charm.

"We could use some luck right now," he said to the air.

"Nah," See-more said as he moved to stand by Kid's side. "The HIVE makes its own luck."

Kid nodded deciding not to mention the past week the HIVE had suffered through. But then again, messing with See-more was fun in itself.

"Uh-huh," Kid said letting the skepticism ooze through his voice. "That's why the Billies are paranoid about anyone saying J—,"

"Don't say her name!" a quintet of Billies bellowed from across the exhibit.

"You-know-who's name," Kid substituted and smirked at See-more. "They actually think saying her name will—,"

"Don't!"

"Curse us," Kid substituted. "And that's why we're _not_ robbing the museum to stick it to a certain overzealous and over capable Titan." At See-more's determined silence, Kid shrugged and eyed the necklace again. "Yeah, I'd say we need the luck."

"Not with our dynamic duo," See-more finally said and clapped Kid on the back. "There may have been setbacks this week in hitting our targets successfully, but the HIVE 5 still stands united."

"All six of us," Kid muttered deflating at the reminder of the team's inapt moniker. "Want me to start relaying items back to HQ, just in case?"

"Dag-nab it, Kid," Billy snarled popping up with a rather impressive mob of duplicates surrounding him. "How many times do we have to tell you not to say that name?"

"Yeah," a clone piped up. "You say that name, and the she-devil appears as if summoned out of her abyss."

"We do not want to repeat the sewer drain incident," a third Billy said. The mob proceeded to glare at Kid, fists clenched and jaws squared as if daring the speedster to say the forbidden name.

"Yeesh, guys, she-who-must-not-be-named will not be named," Kid said.

"You're darn tooting right it won't," the first Billy replied sticking his finger in Kid's face.

"And keep it that way," a second hollered, and the entourage as one stalked off.

Withholding a huff of indignation, Kid wallowed for a moment to simmer in his affront. After six Billies had dog piled on top of him three nights before of course he had learned his lesson on saying the forbidden name. Stupid, presumptuous, vapid hillbillies.

Sparing the necklace on the podium a parting glance, Kid zipped around the exhibit to blow off steam. The jab at his attention span aside, Kid had another deeply rooted anxiety to calm. A restless urge churned in his gut and pounded in his heart. A distinct unease had descended after the Mumbo incident two weeks ago, for once the emotional upheaval had nothing to do with Jinx. This unease wasn't new. He'd felt this way years ago when the HIVE 5 was newly formed and still green.

Normally he would run off the unease to burn away the haunting accusation that whispered unintelligibly at him. Whenever he ran he would always run for eternities. Thinking maybe if he ran far enough, long enough, or fast enough, the haunting feeling would resolve. In the past the feeling would abate only to crop months, sometimes years, later.

Now that lingering anxiety crept up his spine, stole his breath, and silenced his tongue. Hiding behind a smile, Kid sped back to the central display case where the good luck necklace rested. For a moment he stared into the ruby's depths and saw a red garbed reflection stare back. For a breathless moment the whispers grew louder, and the hand around his heart clenched before once again receding for the moment.

See-more seemed to notice the sag of relief in Kid's shoulders. The solitary green eye peered at Kid curiously. "You ok?" See-more asked.

Kid shrugged his eyes never leaving the ruby eye's depths. "Ever feel like the world is wrong?"

"That's deep." At the scathing look Kid shot at him, the cyclops shrugged in apology then said, "Sometimes I wonder."

Shuffling his feet a whole new sense of unease settled on Kid as a prickle crawled up his spine. He felt the hairs on his neck stood straight, and his heart rate speed up.

"Hey boys," a dreaded female voice floated down the exhibit's stairs to the HIVE 5. "Watcha doin'?"

Billy yelped and paled. "Billy, hold me," a Billy clone said and leaped into another Billy's arms. As one the remainder of the HIVE turned and faced the newcomer, one pink-haired smirking Titan.

Snapping into action See-more commanded, "Kid combo. Mammoth, cover our backs. HIVE 5, split!"

Immediately Kid dashed over and blocked Jinx from any forward charges. A dark shadow manifesting from the exhibit's deepest shade, Wykkyd glided over to grasp the main Billy's and Gizmo's forearms and prepared to teleport out.

The Kid combo had become the HIVE's most dependable escape route. Whenever Jinx had emerged to wreak havoc in their heists, Kid, the one member with the highest chances of escaping due to his breathtaking speed, played the talkative, annoying distraction to hamper Jinx's offense. Meanwhile Wykkyd would teleport out the remaining members of the HIVE, those more susceptible to not escaping Jinx.

So far the plan had worked to a point. The HIVE 5 after two weeks of duress till stood united and free to roam the city, but during the process of escaping Jinx, they had befallen a series of unfortunate events; the least of which being the dumpster and sewer incidents an aggrieved Billy swore had traumatized him, and the most being their inability to successfully retain the spoils of their heists. For two weeks the HIVE had limped back to head quarters free but empty handed. While Jinx's challenge pushed them to greater creative and cooperative efforts, Jinx herself learned from their run-ins, and her offense had grown increasingly clever and nasty.

The first hitch in the Kid Combo Escape plan occurred when Jinx gave Kid a nasty smirk and hexed him. Dazed Kid dropped, and his disorientation gave Jinx enough time to dart inside his defenses and slap a cloth patch onto his exposed cheek. Pink eyes locked on Billy, Gizmo, and Wykkyd, and a flare of pink was all the warning the trio had before they dropped the Egyptian jars from their hands. The pink hex shot into Wykkyd's black teleportation aura, mingling as angry sparks shooting through the lightless depths, and as the trio winked out of sight the remaining HIVE members couldn't help but wince at the thought of where the trio would end up. Nowhere pleasant for certain.

A quick flick of her wrist and an expanding mirror sailed through the air glistening with pink threads of magic and swept under the falling Egyptian artifacts just in time to swallow them into the mirror's depths.

Jinx 1. HIVE 0.

Having safely preserved the first of the museum's property, Jinx quickly surveyed her surroundings. She quickly launched back into a series of backhand springs and flips as she wove and dodged the charging HIVE behemoth, Mammoth. Landing lightly on her feet Jinx twirled light as a feather around each punch. Nonplussed Mammoth continued barreling forward relentlessly steaming forward with one attack following another. The graceful weaving continued until Mammoth overextended one of his punches. Then gray hands grabbed Mammoth's wrist, and Jinx flipped overhead using Mammoth's hand as a springboard to land behind the burly teen. Raising his arms in defense, Mammoth spun around just in time to catch a hex to the face. He promptly crumpled unconscious and out of the game.

Jinx never stopped moving. Even as Mammoth toppled, she cart wheeled to the side and targeted the remaining active HIVE agent fleeing the scene, See-more. An odd gleam entered See-more's eye, and he smoothly slid aside to dodge the hex sailing toward him. He winced when the hex hit an unadorned patch on the museum wall creating a noticeable scar.

"Ooh," he hissed. "Tough luck." Turning to lock eye with the pink-haired teen, he smirked. "So much for no collateral damage."

The smirk slid off his face as he spotted the sole of a black boot sailing into his visual field with Jinx attached. Stepping out of range of the kick, See-more shot an eyeball as a counter to Jinx's follow through hex post landing. Springing from her crouch towards the Cyclops, Jinx tumbled to the side as a red glow filled See-more's pupil.

The two fell into a short-lived flow of give and take. Once again falling back into defense, Jinx circled See-more in a watchful interaction of hex-laced blocks, ducking beneath See-more's laser beam while carefully keeping the beam from damaging her or the museum's displays. Such action forced her into mid-range fighting.

Silence reigned in the museum over the sounds of battle long enough for a sense of confidence to prompt See-more to miss the sound of his voice.

"When are you going to stop toying with me?" he asked. "And isn't dodging a bit showy a tactic for you? So much for efficiency," he scoffed then his eye widened when a quick dart up Jinx's sleeves produced a mirror she used to reflect his laser beam back toward him.

Switching off the beam, he ducked then Jinx was on him hexes glittering in her palms and glowing in her eyes as a swift strike knocked him further from the museum's exit. As See-more fell back into HIVE defensive hand to hand fighting training, the pair began to move in an odd tandem as if a spirit of forgotten memory moved through them. Matching every strike given See-more successfully moved the fight to the semblance of a draw. The routine and style felt so familiar so much so the girl before him seemed to shift from Jinx the Titan into the natural sparring partner memory once declared he had.

A swift roundhouse kick to See-more's jaw knocked any illusions out of his head over who exactly he was fighting. Staggering backward the familiar sensation of a hex slamming into his ribcage sent him falling to the ground. Right, this was the Titan, not the HIVE girl. The Titan who apparently had picked up a few tricks from a certain boy wonder. A groan escaped See-more's mouth even as his mind reeled from the shock of the blow.

Oh, this Jinx was definitely a Titan. Give enough punch to bring her opponents down and keep them from reengaging while somehow making sure the worst side effects of such encounters would be a color collection of bruises and a pounding headache to remember her by as the worst side effects. A few days of feeling under the weather so they don't try to pull anymore heists for a week at least but in the end Jinx only toyed with her prey always holding back. Kid, Mammoth, even Wykkyd would be able to walk off their knocks and be fit as a fiddle in a handful of days but excessively grumpy and short tempered. But now the Titan was coming over to restrain him for the Jump City PD. Well, he was HIVE, and HIVE escaped.

Yelling for the faithful shadow he knew was lurking in the corner, See-more said, "Wykkyd, now!"

A blur of black, an all encompassing shadow for transport later, and Jinx once again had thwarted another HIVE robbery preventing the loss of a single valuable with minimal collateral damage, yet once again her prey eluded her.

The motley regrouped HIVE members were a ragged group. When Wykkyd teleported back into the HIVE base with See-more in tow, See-more gathered just how hard Jinx's defense of the city had pushed his team. During his fight with Jinx, Wykkyd had returned to the museum and retrieved Mammoth and Kid. The hulking giant huddled on the HIVE's couch a fierce scowl creasing his face. On the floor a supportive ring of Billies huddled around each other joined in eerie silence. Either the huddle was responding to Mammoth's intimidating I'll smash your face in vibes, or they retreated to process the events of the past hour.

Wykkyd himself seemed to bear a weight of exhaustion about him as the slump in his shoulder and dip of his head indicated. His cape hung in tatters around him, and the pointed tips of his cowl drooped. Even Gizmo had come out of the museum heist the worse for wear. The bald teen glared venomously at his smoking equipment.

See-more reviewed his tally. Two angry, one tired, one frustrated, and one missing. He would need to move swiftly to the channel the undercurrent emotions playing through the group if he wished to retain any control over his teammates' actions; such action called for finding his missing subordinate.

"Where's Kid?" he asked the general room. Wykkyd shrugged, the Billies remained quiet, and Mammoth kept kneading a basketball.

Gizmo finally answered. "Crudmuncher ran off to Training Room Six."

Training Room Six, the heavy stress room, the room built to sustain and withstand the duress of the strongest of the groups' abilities.

"The loser's probably looking at the Central City red light cam videos again," Gizmo scoffed and returned to tinkering with his equipment.

Marking the final tally for three angry, one tired, and one frustrated, See-more walked over to the control panel beneath the main flat panel screen and pulled up video and audio from training room six. A maelstrom filled the room. Angry gusts of wind spinning clockwise lashed out at the confines of the room roaring its elemental fury. Oh yes, Kid did not want to talk at the moment.

Tough, See-more thought then spoke into the intercom. "Calling Kid. Come in, Kid."

The black blur circulating at the base of the tornado halted in the eye of the windstorm, a hard look perceptible in the now dying winds. "Team meeting upstairs," See-more said in response to the challenging glare. He didn't care how antsy Kid felt, the HIVE needed direction as a group before they wasted their energy, "Now—,"

"Present," a terse voice replied from behind.

Glancing at the screen to confirm Kid's absence from the screen, See-more turned and nodded at the speedster. Eye scanning the room counting the appropriate number of teammates, See-more nodded and jumped straight to the matter at hand.

"Alright HIVE, what happened?" and if an unusual spark of dark temper caused his question to sound akin to an accusation, then the final HIVE tally would be four angry, one unknown, and one tired.

For a moment all remained still as the HIVE members seemed to ask themselves this question. Then with an explosion of pent up emotion, all seemed to start talking at once.

"Grand Canyon. We were dangling over the _Grand Canyon_!"

"-if she'd just stayed still-"

"Caffeine patch. I can't believe she managed to make an organic caffeine patch and slap it on-"

"If certain someone's hadn't jinxed us by all but saying her name-"

"She trashed my tech, and the hillbillies had to catch me mid-fall because she shorted out my tech-"

"She's going down! I don't care how-"

"Twirly, flexible, slippery, sneaky super."

"Enough!" See-more shouted above the din, and all fell quiet. See-more looked for his first victim.

"Gizmo," the sulky pout on the boy genius narrowed into a tight lipped frown. "You were responsible for disabling the museum's security."

"I did disable that trash."

"Then how did a particular Titan find us if you didn't miss something?" Before the pint-sized genus could explode into a cloud of near obscenities, See-more closed the matter. "Hack into the museum's system and find out what you missed. Mammoth," the hulking teen fixed a beady eye of rage on the cyclops and popped the basketball in his hands.

"Spar with Kid for the next two weeks. Learn how to fight faster, smaller opponents better."

The two old teammates locked gazes in an unwavering stare. Finally, Mammoth snorted and fell backwards into the couch cushions. See-more celebrated his victory by moving onto the Billy Brigade. Between the return to the base and the start of the team meeting, the Billies had changed from a silent knot of suppressed emotion to the beginnings of an angry mob.

"Billy, what happened?"

The center Billy sputtered then rallied. "Someone cursed us. Kept almost saying the she-demon's name and saying things like, _it's too quiet_. What better way to bring her down on us then by tempting fate? And when Wykkyd started shifting us to safety, she hit him with one of her pink rays, and we appeared over the Grand Canyon! If Billy and I hadn't formed a human ladder and grabbed onto a giant pine, we would have been splatters at the bottom of the Colorado River. Still took 'im five minutes to recollect himself, five minutes of dangling in the middle of the _Grand Canyon_!"

See-more glanced over at the tattered Wykkyd. Catching his leader's eye, Wykkyd nodded.

"Kid?" See-more asked looking to the last member of the HIVE 5. "What happened?"

For a moment the semblance of a blush seemed to cling to the exposed portion of Kid's face, then he pushed back the top of his mask and let it dangle around his neck revealing a true blush coloring his cheeks.

"Caffeine patch, bio-degrable complete with microinjection needles. Once skin contact was made," Kid trailed off and the rest of the HIVE winced in sympathy.

In short, Kid and caffeine did not mix, especially with Kid's accelerated metabolism coming into play. With the right dosage, Kid would be reduced to muscular spasms leaving him temporally disabled while his system burned through the caffeine. Add direct access of caffeine into his bloodstream, well, ouch.

"Wykkyd, teleported in, ripped off the patch, and got me out," Kid concluded. He lapsed into silence, and See-more could only look around the room.

"Why, when we outnumber her six to one, do we consistently end up running from our encounter with the Titan with our tails tucked between our legs?" See-more asked the room. The floor and people's shoes suddenly became quite interesting.

"Billy can outnumber and overwhelm her. Mammoth out muscles her. Wykkyd can surprise her. I can track her, Gizmo can out think and trap her, and if he didn't toy with her, Kid could tie her up and out of the way in two seconds flat. So why are we here licking our wounds, nursing headaches, counting our bruises, and once again without our loot? She's _only_ a girl!"

Inspiration struck.

"Kid, what do we know about Jinx?" See-more asked. Surprised the speedster straightened and stood.

"Jinx," the redhead began while scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully. "Titan, can manipulate probability also known as having power over bad luck, supposedly. Immediate family deceased. Mentor: Zatanna Zatara. Best friend: Robin of the Teen Titans who she may or may not once had a crush on. Stepped into the public eye a year and a half ago. Location prior to Jump City unknown. Civilian identity unknown. Suspected origins Gotham City. Favorite color violet. Least favorite color blue. Volatile temper, holds grudges, and is perennially suspicious."

For a moment all heads in the room turned and just stared at Kid. At the weight of their gazes, Kid asked, "What?"

Gizmo summed up the overlaying thought. "Stalker," he snickered.

"He was showing initiative," See-more said leveling Gizmo a disapproving glare. Gizmo stuck his tongue out in response. "Kid knows Jinx better than any of us which gives us the perfect opportunity for payback."

A bloodthirsty gleam entered Mammoth's eyes. "Payback?" he growled in delight. The Billies spines straightened to attention as they gleefully echoed Mammoth's question. Even Gizmo shared the hungry gleam at the hint of a plan. Kid and Wykkyd held their silence.

See-more grinned back. "Payback," he said. "Gizmo, do you still have a working portable jammer?"

Digging through his pack, Gizmo triumphantly emerged with a black chip the size of a thumbnail, and tossed the tech to See-more. See-more in turn tossed the jammer to Kid.

"For two weeks, we've had our sorry hides handed to us," See-more narrated to the rapt HIVE. "Not tonight. Tonight is the night for the coup of the month. Kid will distract Jinx and plant Gizmo's jammer on her. The jammer will block any alerts to HIVE activity to her communicator. While Kid keeps her occupied, we'll loot downtown."

The revival in HIVE spirits at this plan proved thunderous. Pounding headaches and bruises aside the prospect of an all night free for all brought the HIVE out of the shadow of the law that had hung so heavy for the past two weeks. Only one HIVE member seemed dubious to See-more's plan.

Eying the chip with unveiled doubt, Kid asked, "Distract her?"

See-more nodded. "Out of all of us, you're the only one she'll let close enough without hexing. You'll show up like it's just another night of annoying Jinxy, and she'll let her guard down. Then you'll do what you do best; keep her off balance and attention off her communicator."

The look on Kid's face did not seem convinced. See-more sighed and plunged straight to the heart of the matter.

"Kid, you'll be the distraction. I don't care what you do. Talk to her, harass her, date her, whatever. Take her mind off the City and keep it off the city. Besides," here See-more let a toothy grin shine as an echo of memory spoke through him.

"She _likes_ you."

Here Kid scoffed, loudly and openly. "Jinx? Like me? Right."

See-more walked over to the speedster and patted him on the back companionably and pretended he didn't feel Kid stiffen at his presence. Instead See-more chose to focus on the minute flickers of uncertainty and perhaps hope on Kid's face.

"Kid," See-more began. "Who does she let near her consistently without hexing their socks off or sicking the rest of the Titans on him? Who drives her to a distraction consistently? Who was dragged into the Mumbo incident with her?"

At Kid's alarmed look See-more quickly changed tactics with the slight regret that perhaps he shouldn't have revealed that piece of knowledge just yet.

"Look, Kid, does she yell at you a lot, lose her temper repeatedly, try to intimidate you, but never follow through on her threats?"

"She followed through on the caffeine threat," Kid challenged, but a sickening spark of light had animated his eyes.

"Focus Kid," See-more said and inwardly preened at the fledgling confidence building in his teammate. Just the slightest nudge of persuasion and all would begin.

"Yes," Kid replied, and See-more reveled as the beginnings of his plan fell into place.

"She likes you," See-more finished and stepped back to admire his handiwork.

Pounding caffeine induced headache forgotten, Kid cheerfully tucked the jammer into a glove and pulled his mask over the shockingly bright red hair, and settled the mask over his face.

"One all night distraction coming up."

A gust of wind heralded his departure, and the triumphant grin immediately dropped from See-more's face. Now he turned to address the remaining four HIVE members.

"Gizmo, can you make a containment field?"

The bald genius looked torn between being insulted and indignant. "Can you?" See-more pressed, and Gizmo shoved any rebellious retorts down under a well practiced forced patience at the expression on See-more's face. Even Mammoth noted the change and shifted into a semblance of attention. It was a scary cross between See-more's shut up and listen to me or die expression, and shut up the headmaster's coming. Utter detached seriousness, the attitude which told the HIVE resistance was futile.

Gizmo already knew his answer, the right answer. Do whatever he asks and vent later on peons.

"Yeah, I can make it," he sneered while keeping the exasperated _but it will be freaking hard_ to himself. Mammoth was the only soul brave enough to break the chill that had descended over the HIVE 5.

"Think she'll give us trouble?" he rumbled.

"The Brotherhood has gained word of our struggle against Jinx," See-more said and noted how the last murmur of sound vanished at the mention of the Brotherhood. "They're not pleased." The understatement of the century, "and have delivered an ultimatum. Either we take care of our Titan problem and prove we're worthy allies, or they'll deal with the problem themselves."

At the blank looks See-more elaborated. "We take care of Jinx, or they'll take care of her and take the HIVE 5 out as well. They refuse to have week children mar their reputation by mere affiliation."

The Billies and Mammoth may scratch their heads at the last of See-more's words, but the overall message had been delivered about the reality of their situation. The Brotherhood would spare no effort to have any weak links in their plans, so policed their ranks and allies to eliminate such liabilities. If the HIVE didn't deal with Jinx, well, See-more refused to accept any other option then success.

"So yeah, we need the containment field, and the free for all is canceled. Kid will distract Jinx, then we'll make our move."

The poor girl didn't stand a chance. After all she was a Titan. She didn't have the necessary skills to survive.

See-more pretended not hear Billy whisper, "We're going to die, aren't we?"

…

Jinx had begun to tire of the game of cat and mouse she found herself in with the HIVE 5. For two weeks she and the HIVE had gone toe to toe, and for one girl against six trained HIVE operatives, she had been doing well to make the progress she had. Over the past two weeks she had stopped, neutralized, and foiled their plans again and again. Not bad for a girl relying on her wits, speed, and magic for backup.

Yet no matter how hard she hit them, how successfully she intimidated them, and how many times she snatched their prize from beneath their noses, the HIVE wouldn't back down. They came back stronger, cleverer, and meaner. Gluttons for punishment, all of them, yet no matter how fast, how smart, or how sneaky Jinx was, and no matter how much she stepped up her game, the HIVE kept slipping through fingers like sand.

She had left the museum behind her. After returning the almost stolen artifacts, apologizing profusely for the wall and display cases, and lingered long enough to give her statement to the police and see the first guard shift go on patrol for the museum. Confident of the exhibit's safety for the moment, Jinx found herself at the Titan's favorite pizzeria ordering a medium pepperoni pizza thin crust. Following Titan Food Wisdom—pay for your food when you order it—Jinx found a table outside by the street, and typed absently at her communicator.

If the HIVE followed their pattern, then they would lick their wounds for the rest of the night, and possibly the next two days, before striking again. Reviewing a list of likely HIVE targets, Jinx picked up and nibbled on a slice of pizza. While the HIVE five could deploy separately, it increased the likelihood of Jinx actually catching and handing over a few of their number to the authorities. Plus See-more closed ranks trying to use numbers to overwhelm her.

A smug grin spread across Jinx's face. She had sufficiently terrified Billy Numerous during the past week, had a metaphorical collar on Kid, and could hex Wykkyd in her sleep.

The original HIVE trio proved formidable together, but apart she could easily take them down. Yet whatever reason when grouping the idiots together they managed to pull off a surprisingly effective semblance of teamwork. Jinx frowned and chomped on her food with a vicious temper. Perhaps an ambush was called for? Or even luring the HIVE out one by one?

Further deliberation ended with the spark of magical consciousness accompanied with a rush of wind blowing her bangs back from her face. Closing her communicator with a sigh, Jinx leveled her fiercest glare at speedster before her and deadpanned in her grumpiest voice, "What?"

Plucking a slice of pizza from the open take out box (Titan Food Wisdom #2: when dining out all food is to go), Kid munched on the filched slice and gave Jinx a happy wave in response.

Jinx rolled her eyes and slammed the lid to the pizza box closed. "Hands off and bug off. You're making the nice people nervous," she said and nodded to the suddenly quiet paying customers, and the understandably nervous cashiers. Waving to the manager that she'd handle the situation, Jinx turned on Kid, noticed an additional two pieces missing and lowered her voice.

"Are you going to bug me no matter what I do?" she asked. Kid merrily nodded in agreement. "Even remote hexing?" she challenged.

Again he nodded.

"You're insufferable," she told him simply then sighed. "Give me five minutes peace then bug me again."

Grinning, Kid saluted and departed with a gust of wind. In less than five seconds time Jinx realized he'd taken the pizza with him. Biting her lip, she deliberated swiftly as she walked toward the sidewalk.

She really shouldn't walk down the street and wait for him to spirit her off to wherever he took her pizza. She really shouldn't. He really shouldn't have taken her pizza. So as she walked down the sidewalk allowing a black blur to pluck her up, and the world exploded into the howl and sting of wind, Jinx rationalized that no, she certainly was not trusting Kid. He'd stolen her pizza, for that injustice his antics would be allowed temporarily until she could reclaim her meal. The fact that she could and would hex him to kingdom come and back if he stepped so much as a toe out of line or refused to return the pizza helped.

Denial, her? Nope, never. The pizza was that important. She would be the last to ever admit that she'd formed an extremely reluctant trust for the speedster.

Pick up and drop off lasted two heartbeats. As the wind faded Jinx took in her surroundings. She noted she was now out in the Jump City suburbs, if the white picket fences were what they seemed, in a park an empty park. Her missing pizza box was open and centered on a picnic table underneath the center of a light, and Kid had taken the time to arrange a miniature picnic complete with napkins, paper china, Nice N' Elegant napkins, two unopened cans of Sprite, and three tapered candles. The mischief maker himself stood by the swing set completely still, yet Jinx could feel the pressure of his gaze focused on her.

"You're ridiculous," she said simply, and a smile flickered across Kid's face. Then he was at her elbow tugging her toward the picnic table. "What do you want Kid?" Jinx asked.

"Quality time with my favorite Titan?" he asked and within an eye blink he had another slice in hand.

"I'm the only Titan in the city," Jinx replied and slipped onto the picnic bench, closed the pizza box and removed it from the table.

"Still my favorite," Kid remarked.

"So you're not the slightest bit mad at me for the museum bust or the caffeine patch," Jinx challenged as she leaned forward and blew out the first tapered candle.

"Surprised," Kid admitted, "But not shocked. You're surprisingly ruthless when you wish to be."

Pretending not to notice his attention, Jinx blew out a second candle. Then she figured, why be subtle? She was a horrible actress anyway; the time to move in for the kill had come. If there was one thing she hated about the past two weeks, it was walking on eggshells around a certain red-haired teen.

"And yet here you are bothering me," Jinx said and wrinkled her nose at Kid. "Really West, the date attempt is cute, but let's face it, I've never been a fan of Romeo and Juliet. Consider it an extreme aversion to ending up dead and love's fool, but I don't do forbidden romances."

Kid laughed a harsh, forced sound and shifted, so his arms crossed over his chest, and his stance shifted to a more defensible posture.

"What," he spluttered, "you think I brought you here to romance you? Ha!"

A quick breath and the last candle flickered out leaving only the lingering scent of smoke to diffuse through the air. Jinx glanced pointedly around the table and nodded. "Belle Notte is still playing in the background."

Her eyes may still be adjusting to the streetlights for illumination, but Jinx swore she caught a flush on Kid's cheeks before a quick gust of air displacement and the background music of nature once again resumed orchestration in the background. Kid didn't rejoin Jinx standing around the picnic table. Instead he hovered in the shadows just outside the light of the streetlight and seemed lost.

Jinx shifted her weight from one foot to the other pondering her choices. She could return to the tower; she had rescued her pizza after all. But paperwork remained at the tower, and she knew if she left now, she'd only run endlessly over the encounter over and over and knew how it would haunt as many of her other past encounters with Kid had.

Whether present or absent Kid had wormed his way under Jinx's skin and thoroughly unsettled her. So it was time to pick up the pieces and try a different tactic with the HIVE member.

"So…," she began and walked over to Kid's spot in the shadows. She searched for words and. "I've been thinking." Once again she paused reaching futility for anything to follow the blank in her mind. Why was it now she had nothing to say?

"You…me…us…" Jinx cringed as she felt Kid's suspicious stare fix on her. She really needed to find a way to avoid relationship words and ideas, but what did she do? Ramble on with relationship words and ideas.

Annoyed, she huffed in frustration and turned slightly gluing her eyes on him.

"You are the most infuriating person I have ever met," Jinx said, and saw with no small pleasure that Kid seemed taken back at the turn of conversation. "You are baffling, completely contradictory.

"For whatever reason you find pleasure in knocking me off my game, you are a member of the HIVE, yet you flirt with danger and me! Ever since I first hexed and extracted my revenge, you find excuses to zip by and bug me. It's like it's a game. Let's see how long it takes to make Jinx lose her cool."

She pointed a finger accusingly at the speedster who looked as if a truck had blindsided him. He hung completely frozen of all motion and movement, and the white lenses in his mask had grown very wide.

"And then, as if that wasn't enough, you have to prove you're human, and that you _care_," she continued and embraced the heated fury and brisk flow of her emotions. The anger was familiar. She knew how to handle being angry with Kid, so she followed the current onward.

"You're not just a member of the HIVE. You're a redhead. Your name is West, and you take an absurd pleasure in pulling pranks and disturbing the peace. You break people out of jail; you calm me down after a horrible run in with Slade of all the big bads and patch me up."

At the mention of Slade, Kid seemed to recover himself; he leaned forward rapt, yet Jinx hardly noticed. The rant had taken over, and her words flowed in an endless tide as she searched to properly define an underlying elusive, evanescent fact.

"And then there was the Mumbo incident. You know, I was curious. I had to know why you of all people popped out of that hat, so I did my research. That locating curse I put on you ages ago counts as a magical connection between us. Meaning when Mumbo went fishing with my magic, he found _you_," she leaned forward and took a single step forward to poke Kid in the chest.

"You," she snarled. "And then you were supportive, and serious, and deep, and cute!" She leaped onto this horrible crime of Kid's. "You're the deep, cute redheaded speedster I can never catch; because darn you, after all this time as our paths keep crossing again and again, and you've managed to grow on me.

"Yet I'm a Titan, and you're HIVE. One day I'll have to turn you in because you'll break the law, and then I will officially hate you even more than I do now. Why couldn't you be a shallow, flirty, reckless teenage boy, and why did you have to go and make me care?" she thundered to her finish, her finger jabbed into his chest again for emphasis. Lungs heaving for breath, Jinx stood half in shadow, half in the streetlight, and just glared at the boy with the audacity to be likable.

Kid promptly swooped in and kissed her. The pizza box dropped from Jinx's hands, slices scattering across the ground.

Jinx froze. All thought processes, burgeoning notions of embarrassment, and the idea that maybe she'd said too much shattered. Super speed must have been involved in crossing the initial distance between them, but this was proper, lingering lip contact. Any remaining thoughts faded.

For a hazy moment, Kid may or may not have pulled back to reassess the situation Jinx couldn't tell. Coherent thought had disappeared. Half of her was lost in stricken shock while the other half remained lost, yet somewhere a small part of her was crowing triumphantly. If at any point Kid did pull back to take in Jinx's wide eyes, tense figure, then thief that he was, he quickly darted back to steal another kiss.

Eventually the deer in headlights impression Jinx sported relaxed enough for her to dimly reenter awareness of her surroundings. Kid had pulled back and was smiling almost fondly at her.

"Jinx," he said an oddly amused tone interwoven with tenderness.

The deer in headlights default persisted.

"Jinx…" he drawled out and definite laughter sparkled in the undertone.

Again conscious but frozen.

Reaching forward Kid gingerly poked the wide-eyed, frozen object of his affections on her forehead. Like a leaf blown by the breeze, Jinx began to tip backward. Real laughter burbled out of Kid as he swept in and settled Jinx just within range of the picnic bench to catch her fall.

"I was trying to make you stop talking, but I didn't think it'd actually work." A swift volley of hexes had been expected, not complete mental shutdown. It was almost as if no one had ever…no, no, it couldn't be. It couldn't possibly.

"Was that your first kiss?" Kid asked finding Jinx's uncharacteristic silence strangely emboldening. He'd never been able to completely throw Jinx off her game before, yet had he, as Mumbo once put it, broken her?

For a moment Jinx remained frozen on the bench hands extended before her braced against air. The only signs of life lay in the slight rise and fall of Jinx's chest and the odd blink. Her chin jerked downwards the barest of millimeters then back up.

Waving his gloved hand in front of Jinx's eyes, Kid grinned at the slow blink his movement elicited. With a few quick darts the forgotten pizza had been spirited out of sight with the candles, cutlery, table settings, and music player. He paused for a moment before Jinx and gave her a dazzling smile.

"Still hate me?" Again the barest of nods. "I'll leave you alone now," he told her with only the slightest smugness. Then the gust ruffling her bangs carried with it the echoes of a triumphant shout.

For many long heartbeats Jinx remained as she was motionless. Still feeling as if a feather could knock her over, one hand drifted upwards to lightly ghost over her lips. Jinx blinked then swallowed. Finally she rested her head in her hands and ignored the furious skydiving butterflies whipping up a around her stomach. How was she supposed to finish her report now?

…

"_He's heading for Sector 4!" See-more yelled x-ray vision penetrating pipes, walls, and levels focusing on a gold and red blur dashing about HIVE HQ._

_Behind him a horrified female voice which had always kicked his heart rate up, gasped, "That's my room!"_

_See-more felt more than saw the slim figure dash past him careening towards the elevators, but he let her run off to deal with the intruder. He'd be of more help here with a bird's eye view of the intruder's movements to coordinate with his teammates. Besides, Jinx could take care of herself, and if she needed help, she'd call. She could handle the slippery do-gooder no problem. So he told himself._

See-more snapped out of the memory and took in his surroundings. With some disgust he took a pen and scribbled down a new entry on HIVE Jinx's timeline just below the entry simply marked traitor. Then he walked over and placed a paraphrased note under See-more Prime's timeline. _Break in at HIVE base by unknown hero. Still a gullible fool._

He stepped back and admired his work. Every so often he would experience periods of recollections where facts, faces, and occasionally snapshots of memory laden with emotion would come forth. At times it would take weeks to make sense of the puzzle unfolding around him and more pieces before the bigger picture could unfold. At such times See-more would retreat to this room, and on an empty drawing board write out the larger ideas and striking thoughts barraging his mind. Now was one of those times.

Accordingly in an effort to purge his head of the nagging memories and thoughts trying to beat through his skull, he'd written down the major ideas. Now he simply stared at his scribbling while trying to make sense of them.

In one corner he had M. Rouge in bold letters and underlined. At least one thing constant remained between his reality and his other's. Thoughts of the elastic, intimidating Russian lady had his heart dropping and stomach coiling in legitimate fear. The Brotherhood of Evil's only female member left an impression on whomever she crossed. Elsewhere he'd written containment field, zealous do-gooder, and HIVE Jinx. The last note held notable importance. If the coiling dread and wistfulness he picked up from the other him's memories complete with the sickening dash of infatuation had any bearing, then this event took place before HIVE Jinx ditched her friends.

An invading hero was involved, and See-more had the itching hunch that Kid was about to appear soon. In fact, he'd gone as far as to draw a line to connect Kid with HIVE Jinx, but as always the complete context and resulting epiphany eluded him.

He was missing something, some vital piece of information. Hero, HIVE, and Brotherhood, that deadly combination constituted of a turning point which changed that Jinx and led to his other's self's crushed heart. He could see that and yet…

Once again he followed the thick, dark, furious line drawn between the words Jinx and Kid. Then See-more threw his pen at the far off wall. Nothing, again but no matter. Kid had planted the jammer on Jinx, and was currently chasing the sunrise across the globe for some flippant reason. Since Gizmo kept trackers on all his jammers, See-more had a live location for Jinx.

Shadows of impossibilities could rot. He personally was sick of being swept into his other's constructs and haunted by the parallel echoes in his life, so See-more took measures into his own hands. Titan Jinx would soon receive an accelerated VIP treatment to the Brotherhood of Evil's master plan. The necessary calls, communications, and arrangements had occurred. Before the sun rose Jinx would be in the Brotherhood's hands and would cease to haunt See-more's life. The nonsense would end, and his other would be poetically avenged.

With a snort of disgust See-more strode out of the room leaving Sector 4 behind him.

* * *

Prompt: Butterflies


	79. Lightspeed, Part 2

**A/N 3-12-12**: It's ALIVE! And I am alive consequently. Gee, what to say? First massive apologies for the very long wait, and massive gratitude for all those patient souls waiting for this update. Happily, DTRH is neither dead, nor dying. In short a lethal combination of burn out, writer's block, and my muse abandoning me led to the long interim between updates, but I am back, and I have not given up.

Below you will find gratuitous direct quotes from the Season 5 episode Lightspeed, heavy allusions to various comic book characters (Batman), movies (A Knight's Tale, Star Wars) and Teen Titan cannon movies (Clash of the Planets) and events. Also, minor spoiler, Jinx will crack cartilage with extreme prejudice. You get em, Jinx. You break those noses. Also, a minor warning: A lot happens in this chapter, and it is a lengthy read, so prepare yourselves accordingly. Happy reading and much thanks!

* * *

Chapter 79: Lightspeed Part 2

Everything unraveled with one question:

"Need a little luck?"

The defiant sneer in the tone rounded out Jinx's already eventful night. At the empty display case before her, and a chill curdled her stomach, a foreboding combination of magic and her sense of danger. Between the HIVE run in, the…_Kid_ incident, and now the confident sneer ripe with self satisfied superiority, her night was swiftly changing from one of _those_ nights to a night to be forever memorialized in Titan lore. In the words of Lu Spacetrotter—knowledge about the greatest sci-fi series ever made, Clash of the Planets, courtesy of Beast Boy—Jinx had a _bad_ feeling about this.

Turning calmly on her heel Jinx searched the open room and vaulted ceilings for the speaker while using her turn to mask reaching for a mirror from a skirt pocket. Her search only revealed an empty room, but Jinx pasted on a flawless, calm facade.

Reaching into the memory of the display's history over the missing item, she replied, "It's only a myth. Who are you?"

No reply. Holding the high ground on the empty display's dais, Jinx stepped backward until her back met the wall and let the mirror in her palm slide to the ground while remaining outwardly cool. Inside unease rolled, and the danger sense she was honing began to itch madly.

One of her strategies for keeping ahead of the HIVE 5 lay in fear. After hearing how criminals were a superstitious and cowardly lot, Jinx terrorized the HIVE in an attempt to keep the odds even. But Jinx didn't terrorize the sextet so much as she preyed on the weaker links superstitions, ground over inflated egos into dust, and used her success to lower morale and instill the seeds of despair. Harsh but the HIVE remained an obstinate bunch, gluttons for punishment the lot of them, as the unexpected summons alert indicated a second break in to the museum. After all the work she put into intimidating the HIVE, Jinx didn't appreciate intimidation tactics being used on her.

She must have spent ten minutes after Kid left reeling from his actions and her idiocy. She still couldn't believe she had…the unfiltered word vomit…and then he had…well, for the sake of her sanity and ability to think properly she had to push it out of her head. Instead she had focused on Titan business, and the next hour had passed with relative quiet until her communicator sent out the alert that the museum had been breached, again. Perhaps her downfall could be found in how she had utterly convinced herself that the HIVE would follow routine, back off after another defeat, and in this belief let her vigilance fall.

Blame overconfidence. Blame neglect, Kid's kiss, or the merciless war waging between Jinx and the HIVE, but when the HIVE finally found their courage and stepped up their game once again, Jinx found herself caught in the tendrils of a web she thought long destroyed.

See-more stepped forward, shirking the embrace of shadows to stand at the base of the dais' stairs. "See-more, leader of the HIVE 5," he said in reply to her question.

"Are you supposed to be a bad guy or something," Jinx asked letting carefully calculated sarcasm seep into her words.

"One of the worst," See-more said, and a shiver of cold trepidation ran down Jinx's spine at the sincerity of his manner. She scoffed, but held her ground.

Ok, one HIVE agent, the leader, holding her attention in a battle of wills. Leader implied lackeys, for why would the leader face her alone? Talking, involving her, and holding her attention, implying ulterior motives, misdirection, or a distraction? And that itching sense of danger pushed straight into blaring alarm.

Jinx ducked and pivoted to the side just in time to miss the sharp swipe of a cape slice the air behind her. Trap, of course the leader of the HIVE 5 wouldn't come after her alone. Jinx threw an arm and a trio of hexes at Wykkyd and followed her shots through with counterattack as cover and followed through with a hex laced punch. Silent as the shadows he sought refuge in Kyd Wykkyd danced around Jinx keeping just inches outside of striking range. Even as Wykkyd led Jinx on a merry chase around the dais, Jinx kept See-more in her peripheral vision at all times.

She didn't know why the HIVE struck again, or what they wished to accomplish by baiting her, but she refused to fall prey to another trap. She learned her lesson with Mumbo the first time around.

It was around this thought that Jinx felt something encircle, catch, and settle around her neck. A warm flood rushed down her spine spreading to the tips of her fingers and made her toes curl at the ticklish sensation. The wave sent her nerves tingling, even produced a few giggles, but the oddest reaction warred inside her core as invigorating heat met destructive cool. Then all fell still.

Searching fingers curled around a solid, heavy weight on her collarbone. Red eyes watched her warily, contemplatively darting from Jinx's face to her neck, but the look on See-more's face caught Jinx's face first. A smile that wide should not be seen on beings that weren't purple and pink-striped animated felines. All the warm fuzzies that swept through Jinx previously chilled at See-more's triumphant look.

Whatever trap he had laid, the cyclops thought he was winning.

Deciding an open area away from corners sounded tactically advisable, Jinx threw herself into a one-handed back hand spring, left the dais, See-more and Wykkyd behind her, and took a new stance standing up on top of one of the sturdier display cases. Satisfied with being Queen of the Hill, Jinx turned her attention to the necklace the HIVE 5 slipped around her neck.

As if receiving a silent cue HIVE 5 members began popping out of the woodwork. A snickering Gizmo descended out of the deeper shadows of the museum. Billy Numerous and company ran into the room and swiftly multiplied to form a ring around Jinx. See-more and Wykkyd joined the loose ring, and even Mammoth loomed quietly at the edge of the room blocking the exit.

Ah, a trap.

"Who's the loser now?" Gizmo sneered.

When Jinx wasn't quite sure of her next tactical maneuver, she pointed and hexed. Cunning had its place, but if she wanted to break HIVE ranks quickly while thinking on her feet a quick barrage of hexes worked marvelously. Except when it didn't.

Physically manifesting the chaos magic was as well learned and unconscious as punching walking, and breathing. Simply line up and shoot, or take a step, or simply breathe. Completely natural and thoroughly ingrained, so when Jinx cast out her hand and willed the pink rays to dance from her fingers and rain down and nothing happened, a perfectly natural alarm followed. As the males around her crowed in triumph at her shock and obvious lack of magic, a malignant fury sparked to life as Jinx realized they had planned this.

Jinx immediately followed through with the next step of her plan. She flipped off the podium over Billy and duplicates heads, and outside their human circle. Pivoting she tried once more to hex the lot into oblivion. Again nothing, and as the red-jeweled pendant thumped heavily against her collarbone the beginning of understanding began to dawn in Jinx's head.

Good luck plus bad luck. The end result neutral. Two equal and opposite forces meeting and canceling each other out. If her suspicions were right, the HIVE had just blocked off her powers, and for that they would pay.

Raucous laughter flavored with a southern accent surrounded her, an aggravating bombardment, and Jinx quickly realized that though she was far from helpless without her magic six against one, called for a hasty tactical withdrawal. But if the Southern stampede descending on her was any indication, escape was no longer an option.

…

"We're not afraid of you!"

"Yeah, without your powers, you're just a girl."

"A wimpy, fainting, dainty, —_urk_!"

The already large respect See-more held for Jinx's fighting capabilities deepened as said wimpy girl broke Billy's nose. And if the howls of laughter Gizmo erupted into was any indication, then she'd hit the original Billy. In retaliation the Billies firmly wiped the triumphant smirk off Jinx's face by burying her in a quick and sudden dog pile. An eruption of smoke quickly cleared the dog pile, but See-more's infrared vision clearly illuminated a slight figure rushing under the smoke's cover to the museum exit. A swift signal and Wykkyd blocked her escape, herding her toward Mammoth.

In the end it took the combined efforts of the entire HIVE 5, well the five present, four and a half minutes to subdue and disable Jinx. During those 270 seconds Jinx brandished a yellow wet floor sign, concussed Mammoth, clawed a dozen Billies with surprisingly sharp nails, brained Gizmo with a shower of compact mirrors, and even attempted to use a grapple line to escape. Many pretty flips and cartwheels were involved along with jabs to pressure points, jaw-aching, bruise-causing, swift punches and kicks. Wykkyd went flying through the air at one point, but finally See-more and Mammoth brought Jinx down with a carefully timed grab and gag maneuver.

To her greatest irritation Jinx remained conscious from the initial gagging and binding through Wykkyd teleporting her to what she fondly remember from a magical pie ding dong ditch prank as HIVE HQ. Following teleportation into HIVE HQ, their version of a main room, Wykkyd swiftly subjected Jinx to a decidedly PG pat down. After the removal of both her shirt sleeves, her chocker, both hair bands, her boots, and tearing off her magical pockets from her skirt, Jinx came to the conclusion that Wykkyd was looking for and removing all articles of magic, or sources of magic on her person with the exception of the magical pendant resting on her collarbone. His search proved extraordinarily thorough.

Jinx soon found herself sitting in the middle of a giant cage hair loose and falling in her eyes, hands tied behind her back, and ankles similarly bound. She gave the crowd ringing around the outside such a look and smirked. The main Billy cringed and avoided eye contact. The rest of the HIVE didn't prove to be as jumpy.

The mixed version of triumphant sneers, pride, and dark satisfaction mingled along the HIVE's faces. True worry failed to dawn on Jinx until dark, Byronic See-more motioned curtly toward Gizmo and said, "Engage the containment field."

Torn between keeping an annoying yet confident persona up and snidely mocking See-more for the utter nerdiness of his statement or keeping a silent yet self-assured facade up, the sight of a blue electric field spreading across the bars of her cage caused the first pangs of panic to stir. So the HIVE was serious. While Jinx considered herself above petty sniping and bickering, she almost wished that she could actually see Billy's face. He and his duplicates seemed to have either conveniently forgotten or gotten over their broken noses.

"Tell her what we're going to do to her, Billy."

She could still see the five HIVE members outside her prison beyond the electrical field blanketing the bars. Yet to do so was like looking through cloudy glass. The light of the electric field obscured fine detail and let the colors and shapes of object bleed outside of their normal restraints. A very useful development if she appeared just as blurred to the HIVE as the red Billy blurs did to her.

"We're gonna ship you off," drawled a second Southern voice.

Ah, yes, the Billies.

"That is a genuine, bonafied Level Four Containment field," the third blur, Jinx presumed, said. "You're not getting out of that!"

_Watch me_, Jinx silently snarled. Level Four Containment Field aka will hurt a bunch if touched; therefore, don't touch.

"I wouldn't wish her fate on anyone," another blur said, Mammoth, maybe?

"Except for crudmunchin' Titans." Obviously Gizmo. So this was just a lovely group around and mock the captured Titan fest.

"Quiet," a white and greet blur said, well commanded. See-more was the leader of the HIVE after all. "Go build a fort out of sofa cushions. _Now_."

Though she couldn't make out their faces, the hasty movements from all subordinate members of the HIVE seemed to indicate either excitement or terror. Either way seven of the eight figures moved off presumably toward the couch. But See-more remained. Her viewpoint changed. Instead of blurring figures, Jinx began to see the outside like a flickering television signal. Clear but with images fading in and out of sight in bursts of static.

See-more stood inches away from the cage's bars and merely looked inside at Jinx for a time. Cold unflinching, pensive yet confident in his decision. Resolved or even closed? Had Jinx done anything to See-more which would cause him to need closure? As the one-eyed HIVE leader continued his stoic examination, Jinx couldn't help but match him with her own curious stare.

Without breaking eye contact See-more broke his silence to say, "He's right. You deserve _everything_ the Brotherhood's going to do to you. And I've outgrown you."

Perhaps he noted the minute hitch in her breathing or managed to discern the spark of fear in the depths of her eyes, for See-more finally tore his gaze from hers with a wicked smile on his face. Walking to the controls beneath the main viewing screen, See-more opened a transmission to the Brotherhood of Evil's frequency.

Making the executive decision to escape, Jinx praised the absentmindedness of the HIVE that led her to be restrained with ropes. As if she had learned nothing from all those years at Shadowcrest with Zatanna. Tucking her ankles out of sight and closer to her hands, Jinx kept an ear on See-more's conversation.

"We have the Titan Jinx captured and ready for transfer," See-more spoke through the audio link set up with the Brotherhood.

A strong and distinctly German accent caused Jinx's heart to drop in her stomach and urge her fingers to move faster. "We are on route and will arrive shortly."

Madame Rouge, Jinx hadn't thought she was quite so important to draw the attention of the Madame Rouge. Sure she was a Titan but relatively unaccomplished as a heroine.

"I'm glad to know you children have some concept of competency in your ranks."

"Understood, See-more out," he said. Closing off the transmission he snapped out, "Gizmo, Mammoth." The two heads popped over the back of the couch to look at See-more. "Watch her," he ordered then turned and left the room.

Gizmo scoffed and hovered through the air grumbling foul complaints all the way and tched. "Brainless, one-eyed wonder left the Containment Field at Level 1."

Swooping down the scowling boy genius plucked up the discarded control for the containment field and pointed the device at the glowing cage wreathed by the energy field.

"Brainless leader thinks he can turn down the field at whim. Doesn't think about hard work or potential escape attempts, not that she could break out even if she wanted—," fingers hovering over the dial, Gizmo blanched at the flickering form visible in the center of the cage. The standing figure, "to…," the last words trailed off.

He screeched damaging all nearby eardrums in his shock. Zooming over to the fort of pillow cushions Gizmo flailed his arms wildly.

"She's, she's, she's trying to escape," he finally stuttered, and all fort builders immediately swiveled their heads and focused in on the unbound Titan the tugging necklace over her head.

"Why you yellin' at us?" a Billy demanded. "You've got the remote. Stop her!"

Gizmo stared mouth agape at Billy for a numb heartbeat then the epiphany struck. "I've got the remote!"

Flying over toward the cage, Gizmo cackled and began to twist the dial. Several different things quickly followed. Mammoth roared and charged fist raised at the warded cage. Jinx wiggled the necklace off her head, drew her arm back, and threw. Fist, electronic command, and good luck pendant met in a calamitous shock-wave.

Gizmo and Mammoth were sent hurtling backwards across the main room. Mammoth had the good fortune to land on the sofa cushion fort earlier while squishing Billy and Wykkyd beneath him. Gizmo kept hurtling backwards through the air until he hit the far wall. Upon impact gravity caught him and brought him tumbling to the ground.

The shock-wave also threw Jinx against the bars of her cage, but knocked out the containment field. Recovering from her brief daze, Jinx pushed off the cage walls, looked toward the ceiling, and breathed. She let out a breathless laugh and smiled delightedly as the cage ceiling turned yellow and crumbled into fine rust. With a hex-laced snap the four walls of the cage creaked and fell outwards with a satisfying clang.

Dashing forward Jinx briefly reviewed her escape plan: get out, get her things, get a mirror, and _get out_. Skidding to a quick halt, Jinx looked about the room in dismay. Where were her things exactly?

…

Not good. Not good.

Jinx fought down the panic bubbling inside. She was out, great. She was in HIVE 5 HQ without her boots, a map, or time to spare. Not so great. Around her the HIVE began to groan into function.

Don't panic. Panicking accomplishes nothing!

Plan, she needed a plan. Eyes staring at the remains of the dissembled cage and site of explosion, hope began cart-wheeling around the panic, jack-hammering in her stomach at the glint of gold and a telltale red shine. Sprinting across the floor and later skidding in her traction-less stockings, Jinx lost her footing and careened across the floor only to crash against a pair of ankles. With closer examination the ankles closely resembled tree trunks in width. Undeterred nimble gray fingers darted out and claimed their prize. As Mammoth hoisted Jinx up by the back of her collar and dangled her overhead, she closed her eyes and wished.

"Uh…guys…what are you doing? _Jinx_?"

Jinx could imagine how odd the tableau looked. She scuffed up, hair loose, sleeveless, bootless, and dangling from Mammoth's arm like a kitten gripped by the scruff of its neck. Similar thoughts of the oddity of the situation seemed to strike Mammoth, for he managed to let out a dumbstruck, "Uh…," and lowered his arm giving Jinx the perfect opening to catch him in the jaw with a swift kick. He promptly dropped her.

At the wall of Billies separating Jinx from her hopeful savior, she snarled, "Lay one hand on me, and I swear my next hex will incinerate you."

"Hah!" the center Billy laughed. "We know you can't do your magic when you're touching that magic thingamabob."

The maroon, human wall leaned forward intimidating with matching delighted smiles.

Pointedly gripping the ribbon of the necklace, Jinx dangled the necklace in the air, and outstretched her free hand toward the Billies.

"Wanna bet," she whispered as pink magical sparks danced in her free palm.

Within one eye blink Jinx went from glaring threateningly at the Billies to staring eye to mask with Kid across the room. Mild nausea hit just along with the knowledge her left hand was empty, and Kid gripped her arms with a steady pressure.

Somehow despite this entire fiasco Jinx could only think about how he'd never moved quite that fast around her before. For a humiliating second the realization struck her that Kid, the boy she had shouted her feelings—feelings she didn't fully understand—and been kissed by had his hands gripping her arms while he searched her face. For that eternity of a second she froze again.

Then a wave of indignation justifiably mixed with wary suspicion rose up and breathed new life into her.

"Funny," she said, eyebrow raised and voice poisonous. "You could have mentioned earlier that your team was going to kidnap me."

Despite the shock registering on his face and watching his jaw drop, Jinx pushed forward for a second jab. "_Or_, you could have mentioned their intentions to trade me over to the Brotherhood of Evil. Seeing how chummy we were getting, a little warning would have been appreciated."

Dark satisfaction settled over Jinx as she felt the stillness fall over the room with her words. Any pretense of friendliness, smiles, or trust fell away. Lowering her voice Jinx fell back on a wild gamble that maybe everything hadn't been a lie, and said, "Get the necklace, my belongings and me out of here. _Now_ Kid."

She commanded and adopted the cool professional aura of a Titan, for Jinx the sorceress, the witch, the girl who had barely two hours before had kissed this boy, and now wished to weep at the nightmarish thoughts that what if everything had been a lie. The potential betrayal struck deep, and a part of Jinx trembled frail and precariously close to breaking. In the depths of the HIVE HQ surrounded by enemies and one unknown variable, Jinx despaired at the thought that she had let Kid so close that a betrayal and ensuing heart break seemed unavoidable. She came to the startling conclusion that she would truly, deeply, and irrevocably _hate _Kid if he betrayed her now like this. She would hate herself and mourn for West.

When Kid continued to silently stare at her, the newly formed lump in Jinx's throat dropped like a boulder into her stomach. She ducked her head, breaking eye contact. Her mind whirled from plans C through Z for escape and vengeance while a fine lattice of cracks began to grow deep inside.

She blinked.

A balmy sea breeze bearing the distinct tinge of salt blew through her loose hair. A rhythmic crash of waves beating against rocks welled up in her ears, and the lingering pressure of Kid's hands holding her arms eased then vanished with a gust off the bay. Stumbling back a step, then Jinx hit something solid and cold. Craning her head over her shoulder, Jinx peered up to see the tall entrance to Titans Tower before her, and across the water she saw the shining lights of Jump City aglow.

…

Deep in the bowels of the HIVE 5's base hovering just outside Sector Four, and contrary to what Billy said, he was _not_ brooding, See-more pondered life, the HIVE 5 and the Brotherhood of Evil's plan. Put young heroes on ice to eliminate a generation of heroes, brilliant. The H.I.V.E. Academy couldn't dream of a more worthy goal.

See-more could help the Brotherhood in their schemes act in homage to his alma mater. Destroy the Teen Titans. In half an hour the third casualty would pass into the Brotherhood's hands. He would be avenged.

Any smug dwelling on his swiftly approaching triumph shattered with Gizmo's screeching over the HIVE 5 intercom.

"_Get up here. Kid set her loose!"_

…

All was not well with the HIVE 5. Anger roiled and billowed as the six team members met and warred over certain individual's decisions, actions, and the consequences for the team.

"You let her get away?" See-more asked, the dark strength of his tone carefully bridled toward the perpetrator of HIVE interests, Kid.

"Let her get away, the dumbbell took her away," Gizmo sneered and glared venomously at Kid.

In fact all of the HIVE 5 had some version of a withering glare aimed at Kid. All stood in a rough, united ring scattered throughout the chaos of the main HIVE room, and all glared at Kid.

He waited. Mask pulled back and dangling down his back, riotous red hair wild blown, Kid held his ground and silently met all challenges against him. His eyes burned in accusation.

"You said we were going to distract, Jinx. Raid the city. You never said anything about handing her off to the Brotherhood," He protested.

"Oops."

Kid's jaw clenched. "Oops," he repeated near whisper. "_Oops_? We're HIVE," he stressed and gestured wildly at the air. "We break and enter. We steal. We vandalize. We damage property, disturb the peace and tick off the Titans. When have we ever kidnapped anyone?"

Flickering glances passed between the human ring until all looked to See-more to answer.

"The Brotherhood of Evil is rounding up Titans, Kid," See-more stated a mite to placid for believability. "_The Teen Titans will fall_," he quoted and shrugged. "Making nice with the Brotherhood means expanded opportunities for the future, resources, contacts, and a place in a world without Titans. Giving Jinx to the Brotherhood…she's a Titan. She's going down anyway."

"But not her," Kid said, a quiet, desperate fierceness strengthening his claim.

Whispers began to trickle, seeping into memories, stretching liquidly from and touching See-more's sense of fact as the flow of knowledge sculpted his perceptions once more. Those maddening murmurs which carried in their currents puzzle pieces for an unsolved problem.

A shocked laugh burst through See-more's lips flying out free and uninhibited. More of the laugh's brethren followed in its flight, and See-more spoke with the certainty of what he saw.

"But not _her_," he repeated, and a gloved hand reached up to rest lightly on the dial of his helmets lens. Another gut clenching laugh. "You know, if you asked her, she'd probably defect. Leave the Titans. She's done it before, abandoned her teammates for _love_," he spat.

He continued in a mocking, carefree air. "She tastes the change in the winds and changes sides accordingly. If she's smart, she'll read the signs up join up."

Every eye had shifted at this point from boring into Kid to keep dutiful watch on See-more. Kid seemed bewildered but ultimately wary, See-more decided.

"What do you mean?" Kid asked.

See-more waved him away not deigning the redhead's question worth an answer. His preoccupied mind sifted through and weighed the newest revelation.

So HIVE Jinx had left for love on the eve of battle vanishing for the sake of another. No wonder the other him had been crushed. The other him had practically fawned over her in all his pathetic emotion. To lose the object of his affection to another guy, to be rejected, tossed aside like chaff husked off a seed, and lost to the wind.

No wonder the other him cracked. No wonder he burned.

See-more burned, seethed. He _needed_ revenge. And driven by bitter determination he had found it.

Love…

"You're _weak_," See-more told Kid. The hand at his helmet lowered to fist by his side. Bitterness reigned alongside the venomous poison of hatred.

"She'll betray you. She always betrays. Love will always desert. It pulls you to the highest of euphoria and glory then drags you down. It cripples you and traps you. You know that better then all of us, _Kid_."

"Uh…See-more," a hesitant soul asked from the edge of See-more's world. All had narrowed into a straight lane encompassing See-more at its start, and Kid at its finish.

"_She doesn't even like you_," he hissed, and satisfaction welled up at the raised eyebrows his verbal hit elicited. "She'll use you then toss you aside. She'll trap you, wrap you around her finger, and squeeze your life out. Love tricks and deceives, Kid. It trapped you at the HIVE Academy all those years ago. You submitted to torture from Blood for you precious loved ones. And where has it gotten you?"

Marching across the distance between himself and the frozen speedster, See-more shoved Kid back towards the wall.

"Huh, West, how's love working out for you? How's your Mom? Still sick, her medical bills still indenturing you to the HIVE? How is love and loyalty working out for you now, _hero_?" See-more snarled a compelling current of anger surging his fist forward straight for a specific freckled nose.

A tornado ripped through the red haze clouding See-more's thoughts. A punch followed the tempest; pain blossomed in See-more's jaw. He smiled with the realization he'd heard the bones crack.

Of course the detached connection between See-more's thoughts and the world around him couldn't hide how he was soaring through the air across the room another tornado snarling through the air chasing him. Apparently the pirated footage of the Flash's hero work and fights in Central City proved quite informative if Kid could properly utilize hand vortex creations. Someone caught him; Mammoth, See-more noted, but he merely locked eyes with Kid giving the speedster their last words.

"The Brotherhood's coming for her," he rasped blood trickling through his teeth. "And they're coming for us. And if they don't get Jinx_, I will_," he promised. "I already have."

Flinty blue eyes burned with an inner rage that See-more could only admire. The rage reminded him of his own; his transplanted, carefully nurtured ire, and a consuming hatred passed to him as a torch to hold and bear.

Kid would leave either out of respect for his past with the HIVE 5 or for the sake of those females of his. Kid would leave and not come back.

As predicted after a speedster's eternity, Kid pulled up his mask, refit it over the contours of his face, and the spot where he once stood lay empty all within the flicker of a thought.

See-more grinned, wiped the blood trickling through his lips off with the back of his hand, gingerly prodded his teeth, and stood pushing wobbly out of Mammoth's supporting grip. Good riddance, he spared for the speedster's departure. The HIVE didn't need an operative unable to fully commit to their cause.

"The HIVE 5's back to five members once more," he said for his team's sake, voice steady with a saner tone and octave.

"Prepare to evacuate to Bunker 13," he said and walked over to the main computer terminal to initiate shutdown and evacuation of the base. "Madame Rouge will be out for blood, and I'd rather keep what's left of this team alive and unscathed," he said calmly yet briskly.

Whatever burgeoning doubts or lingering questions brewed in their silence, the HIVE 5 took the changes in stride, temporarily. With the promised of an impending migraine, See-more knew he would have to deal with insubordination at some point in the near future, but for now he was merely grateful his team could still adapt, prioritize and obey orders in the face of impending crisis.

…

Running didn't help this time. Running to forget remained a common and useful distraction from reality. Dissatisfaction, regret, yearning, all could be pushed aside behind the thrill of chasing the wind, streaking through states and marveling at how fast his mind processed and compiled everything around him. If the awe at the speed his mind raced along with him failed to properly distract Kid, than the endorphin rush alone could cure many ills.

But not tonight. Not this time.

Boiling, panicking urgency rushed Kid forward and fueled his path. Running heedless of territory—and it was always a bad sign when he ran near Central or Keystone City without sparing a thought for the Crimson Champion within—or profiles, or anything. All thoughts seemed stuck in two different seemingly endless circles: What am I going to do? And, He knows.

Skidding to a stop Kid spared the briefest of milliseconds to take in his surroundings—flat, desolate prairie and the pitch sky alight with stars from horizon to horizon without a sign of sentient life or vehicle from any direction on the highway. He reared back, roaring his frustration, and slammed his fists in the cement of the highway. After a millisecond Kid observed two fist-sized craters. Radiating cracks crumbling into an impressive pothole, and he felt appropriately chagrinned at the wanton destruction. He didn't dwell long.

Rising off his knees Kid began to pace from one light pole illuminating the highway to the next and anxiously pulled his mask off in order to run a hand through his hair.

What was he going to do? A gauntlet had been dropped, thrown down with bitterness and fury Kid never knew his detached, cold, and, at times, cruel leader possessed. See-more raged and the object of his rage lay mysteriously in Kid.

_You're weak_.

Kid hurriedly pushed the memory aside. See-more hadn't been himself lately. The cyclops had been terse, short-tempered and prone to disappearing into Sector 4 for extended periods of time. He had also become obsessed with the idea of taking down the Titans, hence the allegiance to the Brotherhood of Evil. Kid had been content to let See-more deviate between his normal demeanor and the moody counterpoint.

While See-more was his teammate and his leader, he didn't inspire a close camaraderie beyond that as teammates, partners in crime, and a sort of close acquaintance. A sort of friend who could happily stab you in the back if it suited his purposes. None of the members of the HIVE 5 were known to sit down in a circle and talk about their feelings unless video games were involved and said feelings ran along the lines of competition, outrage, glee…Kid shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't afford to trace thought tangents right now.

Right, See-more not himself, Kid taking advantage to sneak off and goof off.

_What has love done for you?_

At the memory, Kid held down a burning desire to run back to base, give See-more a black-eye and break his nose in the process. But he dismissed the thought.

Going back to break noses wasn't acceptable unless Kid found a way to redeem himself in See-more's and the HIVE's eyes. As his thoughts raced along the paths of what he would have to do to prove himself once and for all to the H.I.V.E., prove his unswerving loyalty and determination, his stomach clenched, and a wave of discomfort akin to nausea halted his pacing. He could still go back, at a price. A quick trip into Titans Tower, grab a certain pink-haired Titan, carry her off the HIVE, and hand her off to the Brotherhood…

_The Titans will fall…She's going down anyway…_

"But not _her_," he breathed once more and dropped the option like a poisonous snake. Unacceptable and unallowable, he would not do that. For all he pretended otherwise, Kid was extremely aware he held of a certain pink-haired, cat-eyed soft spot merging into a weakness. Of all the things Kid was, he was not strong enough or cold enough to willingly hand Jinx over to her doom, or to deliver her on a silver platter. He couldn't do it; therefore, he couldn't go back.

Kid paused in his pacing and spared a tumultuous moment to just stare at the starry host illuminating the sky. A waning moon peered down back at him staring into his soul. It saw far too much.

See-more knew too much. Only a handful of people knew about why Kid had originally joined the H.I.V.E. Academy. For all these years as teammates and cell mates at the H.I.V.E. even Wykkyd and Bumblebee didn't know the sordid details behind Kid's enrollment at the H.I.V.E., or why he privately considered the H.I.V.E.'s sway on him akin to the H.I.V.E. owning his soul.

What was there to tell a ten year-old recently struck by a cocktail of mysterious chemicals and a lightning bolt with the weight of the world on his shoulders? As the man of the West house he had been charged with taking care of his mom. As events took a horrible turn for the worse fate stepped in with a golden ticket appeared in the hands of the H.I.V.E. Headmistress.

Kid had enrolled. Conflicted, confused, yet duty bound to soldier on. He remembered being distinctly horrified when the revelation came that the special school for special kids just like him was a school for training villains. For a ten year old boy nurturing a healthy admiration for a certain scarlet speedster, well the revelation and subsequent reality left him reeling and feeling distinctly trapped, and condemned to his duty. Only the Headmistress/Headmaster had access to the files which covered Kid's recruitment and enrollment. Yet seeing how Blood had suffered such a definite defeat at the hands of the Titans, those files weren't as viciously or zealously guarded as in the past.

Which left the realization See-more had been digging about in classified H.I.V.E. files. The nosy cyclops knew too much for Kid's comfort. If he knew why Kid enrolled all those years ago then he knew Kid's identity, and as a highly trained graduate of the H.I.V.E. Academy, See-more knew how to use Kid's identity to bring his world crashing down on him. Add in See-more's increasingly hot/cold behavior toward Kid…

Right, no decision to make now. Kid would simply run, go to ground, and take all vulnerable parties with him. Thankfully his windfall as a rather successful HIVE agent could sustain him undercover for a few years, yet even as he plotted out contingency plans a startling reminder ceased all thought.

The HIVE had used him as an accomplice to kidnap Jinx, so See-more could hand her over to the Brotherhood of Evil. A shiver raced down his spine with the memory of Madame Rouge experience in leading field operations involving teen heroes, Titan teen heroes. Whispers among the villainous underground spoke of Madame Rouge's dealings with the Titans, and how the French woman had personally ensured the success of a key component to the Brotherhood's plan.

As the infuriated Jinx had curtly informed him, she knew the HIVE 5 had summoned trouble into the city. And Jinx was a Titan and took her duties as a Titan seriously.

Slapping a hand across his eyes, Kid pushed his mask back and raked a hand through his hair in frustration before pulling the mask back on and running back towards Jump City. Kid could safely say from personal experience that Jinx seemed cursed to be a danger magnet. Stumbling across HIVE operatives and operations in a shopping center (he'd done his research), tangoing with Slade, letting _him_ hang around her, and of course there was the Mumbo Incident (he'd been flipping through the channels before stumbling upon the live news feed). Meaning with Jinx's luck and past actions instead of doing the sensible thing like running and hiding when learning Madame Rouge was after her, Jinx would probably do the selfless, noble thing and ride out to meet her.

A pang of dread crawled up and made camp right beside unease in Kid's gut. The beautiful, altruistic idiot. Kid returned the way he came across the Great Plains, past Keystone and Central City, through the Rocky Mountains, hitting California, and finally the coast and Jump City.

He found the danger sense deficient Titan on the outskirts of Jump City not far from the coast preparing for battle. As he skidded to a stop beside his favorite pink-haired Titan, Kid allowed a moment to marvel at his uncanny knack for finding Jinx wherever and whenever the situation called for it. But of course with a shape shifting mercenary somewhere in the city, Kid ignored his gut instinct that the Jinx in front of him was the real Jinx and observed her in order to establish her true identity.

"Hey Jinx," as a disarming pair of pink-eyes landed on him, Kid mentally shrugged. The top hat jauntily perched atop her pink head was a bit of giveaway. As was the charming way said pink-eyes widened in seeing him, and the way she hissed, "West," in the smallest of whispers.

Oh yes, Kid thought as his verbal communication abilities began to falter, this was definitely Jinx. He stumbled briefly as a hex decimated the ground around him, and a second shot up his spine. Every nerve came alive, tingly viciously, and Kid found himself blanketed in a faintly pink aura.

"What was that for?" he squawked indignantly as the unpleasant sensation waned.

Before him Jinx sighed in relief and lowered her outstretch hands. "Good," she breathed. "You're you."

Moving slowly so not to startle her Kid stood and walked to her side.

"I'm me," he agreed soberly then he really looked at Jinx.

The top hat perched jauntily on her head was not the only change, just one of the more obvious. Pink-hair was pulled out of its customary gravity defying style into a French braid; the tip of the braid hung between her shoulder blades. Thick black eyeliner rimmed her eyes like war paint. A fresh uniform adorned her, and Kid had to look down on Jinx more so than usual, for Jinx wore a pair of boots with a greatly reduced heel. Finally his eyes traced the line of black runes trailing up her wrists and disappearing under her sleeves.

Off to battle, of course. Kid opened his mouth to speak, but Jinx warded off his words with words of her own.

"You set me up."

His jaw snapping shut, Kid swallowed and quickly weighed the odds of telling her the short version of the long story where they were both pawns only to decide against it. They didn't have time.

"Yes." He only half-lied.

Jinx nodded, and a strange expression flickered across her face.

"I finished my report, finally, about the Mumbo Incident. It took me two weeks, but I finished." She took a breath, briefly glanced at the ground before boldly meeting his eyes. "You set me up. My report was extraordinarily…thorough. Your personal file in the Titan system was similarly updated."

Swallowing down the heavy lump in his throat Kid nodded. Jinx thought he'd sold her out—and he had divulged some personal details about her to the HIVE but nothing private. By selling her out he'd violated their unspoken agreement. All private, dangerous information they held about each other had been kept mutually quiet unless the other violated their silence first.

How was it that the tenuous and delicate rapport growing between them must shatter after reaching the highest accomplishment over their entire interaction? The situation was forcing him back to square one. Only disappointment and grim resolution showed behind Jinx's walls.

He'd screwed up and been screwed over, and the cold reality that Jinx wouldn't believe him could be potentially devastating. Well, he wasn't planning on sticking around Jump City long enough to fully embrace the keen loss of their strange relationship anyway.

"Madame Rouge's in Jump City," he finally said and studiously ignored the gravelly note in his voice. "She's coming for you."

"I know," Jinx said. Pink-eyes weighed him, measured him, and found him wanting a cruel voice whispered in his mind.

A deep, shaking breath, "I can't help you," Kid said cursing the strain in those words.

He really, truly couldn't. Unless Jinx asked to be spirited off to a different city, state, or country, he couldn't help her. In order to relocate and lay false trails before See-more acted, Kid needed to move fast, and frustratingly that meant slowly. He would have to move and operate at mundane speeds. He was running out of time.

"That's it?"

Disbelief radiated from her incredulous eyes and raised brows. Bewilderment seemed to stagger Jinx.

"Seriously, that's it? That's all you're going to say?" she asked.

"…I'm sorry?" Kid guessed, hedging at the appropriate response to her reaction. From the expression on Jinx's face she looked as if Kid had hit her with a frying pan to the back of the head.

For a moment Jinx's fingers rubbed thoughtfully across her left palm as she chased down loose thoughts, then pink eyes burning with a familiar intensity snapped to meet Kid's eyes. Kid froze under that gaze, and thus helpless to escape or defend himself when Jinx stalked over, seized the edge of his mask, and ripped it off his head in order to make true eye contact for the first time that night.

"I can't believe you," she snapped. "Out of all the things you are West, I _never_ thought you were a coward."

"Uh…"

"No," she said and viciously dug her nails into his shoulders. He could only hold utterly still. "You're the one always talking about heroes. What they are, what they do, and what they should be."

And she proceeded to throw his words back in his face, line by line.

"_That's what makes you heroes. You try even when it seems hopeless."_

He wasn't sure whether to be touched his words made such an impression on Jinx or ashamed he had ever said them. The verbal attacks didn't stop. Jinx continued to mercilessly tear into him.

"You have _always_ been there to help me even when I haven't wanted your help. We make a good team," she laughed, and the roaring ferocity banked. "We make a _great_ team."

His heart clenched at the soft way she admitted the fact, but his respite didn't last. The sincerity flooding her eyes and utter conviction proved a more potent weapon then all her rage and passion.

"You have potential, West. I've seen it. You could be so much more," the wistful yearning there nearly struck a deathblow to his resolve. But then her tone and demeanor shifted into disappointment. "Yet when I need your help, when I want your help, you won't help me."

"I can't, Jinx," he managed.

"You _won't_," she corrected, and the challenge had returned to her eyes even as she backed away from him.

Perhaps it was the disappointment haunting those eyes, or the pain glittering amongst the betrayal lingering in the shadows of her face, for Kid hesitated. He wavered between duty and desire.

At the hope flickering to life in her eyes, perhaps Jinx sensed this weakness also, for she renewed her assault. This final attack would prove to be the most heart wrenching by far.

Learning in peering up into his blue eyes from under the brim of her top hat, Jinx whispered, "Help me."

Doe pink eyes continued their heartfelt pleading. West began to tremble.

"I'm not asking as a Titan, and I'm not asking the HIVE operative." She held her hand outstretched before her and landed the final, mortal blow. "From one friend to another, West, help me, please."

Beautiful girls should not be allowed to peer up with all their innocence, desperation, and need shining out of their beautiful eyes. They especially should not be allowed to do so towards the guy who cared for them. For West keenly felt the weakness See-more railed against and decried. How was he supposed to resist without having a part of him shatter? How was he supposed to survive?

Finally the war within settled, and Kid felt his entire being sag under a great weight.

"I'm sorry, Jinx," he whispered. "I can't."

He ran. For what else could he do?

In his wake the still outstretched hand lingering in the air drooped, clenched then withdrew to Jinx's side, and she released a long, shaking breath as she pushed down a sudden, bitter disappointment.

Preparation for her imminent encounter with Madame Rouge was a welcome diversion from the pattern of painful thoughts floating about Jinx's head. For a moment Jinx allowed herself to bath in the bright rays emitting from the luminous magical orb hovering far above her head. The glass orb served as a glistening beacon illuminating Jinx's chosen battlefield and calling out her hunter. The nonverbal equivalent for broadcasting, "Hey, look at me! I'm a target!" across the city for Madame Rouge to trace.

Jinx had chosen the outskirts of Jump City for her oncoming battle for its sparse civilian population and abandoned infrastructure. She could still hear the echoes of the coast carrying across the level field she had chosen, but Jinx knew the coast and resulting cliffs were a sufficient distance away to be an extremely minor worry.

Overall the flat terrain and abandoned surroundings should prove to be the perfect site for the oncoming confrontation. There were also the magical modifications she performed on her chosen battlefield. Modifications that would hopefully aid her in the coming encounter and prevent it from turning it into a tragedy. And perhaps if she held out long enough someone would eventually respond to her SOS. She hoped. The Brotherhood and its growing allies were starting to spread the Titans thin and keeping them preoccupied.

She was on her own until fate smiled on her, if it so chose. Warmth crept up Jinx's arm along the line of runes stretching from elbow to wrist on the underside of her arm. Black runes etched on her arm with liquid eyeliner glowed faintly with the breach of the battlefield's borders.

She's here.

"So this is where you've been hiding," a silky feminine voice said. Drifting from the shadows the willowy frame of Madame Rouge gradually crossed into the orb's light.

Whatever Madame Rouge had been expecting, whether fear, anger, an opening salvo, or flight, Jinx didn't comply. Instead she slid smoothly into verbal wordplay.

"You made a mistake coming here," Jinx said standing tall beneath the bobbing witch light overhead.

"You made a mistake when you did not run while you had the chance," Rouge returned. A cruel smile slid across her angular features. "Not that running would have saved you. It would have only delayed the inevitable."

"Maybe," Jinx said with a dismissive shrug. "Maybe not."

Black eyebrows drew together. "You overestimate yourself," Rouge scoffed, and piercing blue eyes bore into Jinx. "I tire of your child's play."

With the stars, moon, and her own witch light shining, alone in an empty field squared off against one of the deadliest women on the planet, Jinx retaliated.

"See," Jinx jumped in deliberately disrupting the beat of the encounter, "when I said you shouldn't have come _here_, I didn't just mean this field. I meant Jump City. The HIVE 5 may have called you here, but Jump City isn't theirs to rule or possess."

Crossing her arms fiercely across her chest, Jinx lifted her chin and stared narrowly at the Frenchwoman. "I protect Jump City from people like you who come in to hurt our city and its people, so I'm only going to say this once. _Get out of my city_."

Batman would have been proud, but Madame Rouge took Jinx's bold quote as an opening feint and retaliated.

"Impudent child," she sneered, gloved arms stretching out for a volley of rapid punches.

Jinx darted aside. Her right arm blocked the strikes with a flaring hex. Stretching her body to cross the distance between herself and Jinx, Rouge reached out again, coiling her arms through the air to encircle Jinx. Ducking beneath the hold, Jinx countered with a barrage of hexes aimed for Rouge's feet. The magic cracked and scarred the ground in its wake and dislodged Madame Rouge's footing long enough for Jinx to slip away.

Snarling in soundless fury Rouge ran alongside Jinx, arms lashing out to grasp the teen only to be batted away with biting magic. Another stride and a long step brought Rouge's elastic body looming over Jinx arms and legs rubber stilts and body flattening and curling, to swallow and capture Jinx. Furious pink eyes burning with magic glared up in defiance.

"Want to know something," a sickeningly sweet Jinx asked teeth bared in a predator's smile. "I've spent half my life afraid of myself and my powers. Afraid of hurting the people around me. I learned control, and I have always held myself in and held back." A pink glow began to shimmer around Jinx. Seeping out of the ground, the air, and even Jinx, the fluttering aura of magic thickened and coiled around her.

"I've always taken measures with my fights," she continued gray skin turning golden under the glow of magic around her. "Especially when I'm facing an opponent who can outmatch me."

An unearthly wind kicked up and tearing through Rouge's short black locks and darting to joining the glowing magic slowly revolving around Jinx.

"I choose my battlegrounds with care. This field has been marked with runes and bound with magic, so that the ground, the air, everything strengthens my powers." Jinx laughed. "Your own surroundings work against you by amplifying my powers."

"Scared little girl," Madame Rouge sneered a respectful distance from the supernatural sight in front of her. "Afraid to acknowledge you would never stand a chance against me?"

"Hardly," Jinx shouted, and the magic coiling about her core thickened and condensed into thick, swirling rings.

"For once I am going to allow myself to cut loose without fear of the consequences," Her voice dropped. "Want to know what I call this move?" Jinx asked and all visible magic coiled and condensed into her right palm. "Evil. Pink. Lightning."

Only Madame Rouge's infamous agility and stretching capabilities allowed her to doge the magical lightning tearing through the air. The scent of ozone flooding her nostrils, Rouge leaped in to end the fight quickly only to be driven back by the magical aura shrouding Jinx.

The topsoil of the ground surrounding Jinx groaned, cratered, and roiled with a violent intensity, radiating outwards from Jinx's magical epicenter. Gathering the luminous cloud surrounding her, Jinx lashed out, continuously throwing strike after strike of hexes after Madame Rouge. Rouge's willowy frame stretched. Limbs thinned and elongated as she coiled away from the aerial magical volleys.

For the lady who could be anything she wanted this teenager's magical temper tantrum didn't cause her to bat an eye. As a seasoned operative Madame Rouge did not give up. If anything Jinx's powerhouse raging pushed the Frenchwoman into a calm determination to find the cracks in the teen's offense, the loose thread in her defense, and seize onto the weakness. The gleam of anticipation for the surely inevitable downfall grew instead.

Finally, after multiple contortions, dozens of dodges, and quiet observation, Rouge struck. For all of the Titan's blazing power she seemed rather centrally located preferring to pelt rending lightning bolts and hex waves over ranged distances. Whenever Rouge slipped into a closer proximity the pink aura shrouding the girl condensed then billowed out with the force of a crashing wave driving Rouge back. But even while the crackle and sting of magic followed Rouge throughout her assault, the area of destruction remained in the inner circle, where Jinx held her ground.

Eventually, Rouge remained outside of the broken ground on the undamaged grass and soil and held her attacks from there. Sure an increase in aerial assault and the occasional earth-shattering magical ray would course down after her, but for the most part the ground remained undamaged. The girl was protecting this ground for a purpose. A wickedly pleased smirk adorning her face, Madame Rouge called out to the Titan.

"A pity the Brain wants you alive," she sneered. Black arms stretched down and wrested a cracked slab of sod from the edge of furrowed ground. "I would have enjoyed breaking you."

With a wordless cry, Rouge stretched, leaping up into the air and hurling the compacted earth into the glowing orb shining with an unearthly fire up above. Glass shattered raining down from the sky aglow with fading white flames only to extinguish once buried into the earth. All went dark.

Almost immediately the strange energy crackling through the air died, and the only light visible in the sudden darkness was the gleaming magic swathing Jinx. Jinx paused and fell back into a distinctly defensive stance with one hand fisted at the hip and the other held out to ward off an attack.

Eyes readjusting to the utter blackness outside the light of her magic's aura, Jinx waited. Her ears strained for a tell tale sound as her eyes adjusted. She almost didn't notice in time. A warm, solid, rubber coiled around her ankles and engulfed her shins. With a sharp cry, Jinx's magic flared snapping at the looming figure blocking out the stars. Magic lashed out flinging the offender and threat away, and all of Jinx's magic in that field surged and echoed the central call. Flaring up with a pink glow the four runes marking the points of her border shone. Scattered across the field glowing, pink rectangles shone.

With a fiercely muttered spell and pointed gesture, Jinx stifled the outlying glow by reducing and drawing in her own magical aura, anything to protect those precious, hidden protections before Rouge noticed them. She acted too late, for out of the darkness a sparking mirror hurtled through the air and rent through one of Jinx's border runes, cleaving it in two, and breaking the aura and all spells keyed into it. With a rising tremble of fear the remnants of Jinx's magical aura dissipated as the spells amplifying her powers died becoming only tainted earth.

If she survived, she would need to get a priest to come out and bless this land, and cleanse it of the curse seeping into its depths, or so Jinx absently thought as the tide of the battle turned. If she survived.

Still adjusting eyes barely caught the stars reflection spinning toward her with just enough time for Jinx to let a quickly hurled hex split the thrown mirror in two. Glass fragments rained down, cutting skin and embedding into soil and fabric. Another mirror hurtled out of the darkness and then another. After the third shower of glass shards nicked Jinx again, she began dodging the mirrors. Exasperated and bordering on the edge of panic, Jinx reached out with her magic, connecting with the spelled mirror bearing down on her and disappeared inside its depths leaving only her top hat behind.

All fell quiet on the field. A dark pooling shadow twisted, stretching out of a maroon and black puddle to reform into the stoic Rouge. Aloof, a solitary figure blocking out the stars her eyes scored the field apathetically. Then she walked over to the remaining mirrors and one by one shattered their reflective surfaces.

"I will find you, little girl," the cold warning drifted out to the rent earth wounded with deep furrows and pierced with glass shards. "I will hunt you down and drag you to your fate." Boots crunching on the shattered glass, Rouge walked over to the abandoned top hat and scooped it up to turn it over in her hands. "And if I do not find you, then I will hunt down your precious Titans and drag them back instead. I will haunt your city and disrupt your precious peace until I either find you, or you turn yourself over to my mercy. You _cannot_ hide forever."

"Who said anything about _hiding_?" Jinx snarled.

Startled Madame Rouge looked into the interior of the top hat just in time for a fist to collide with her nose. With a pained cry Rouge stumbled back and dropped the hat. The pain blurring her vision abating, Rouge watched the Titan rise out of her own hat, a fierce snarl marring her features as a look of cold rage rested on the Titan girl's face.

"Why you _miserable_," Rouge snarled lashing out. Jinx's eyes flashed a luminescent pink, and magic ruptured through the ground tearing the earth apart as magical waves, glass, and soil struck at Rouge in a powerful eruption. Knocked back Rouge coiled into herself and glared hatefully at the Titan.

"I don't care who you are," Jinx stated and raised a hand wreathed in burning pink flames. "No one messes with me."

Who knows how long the two would have raged against the other if a timely interruption hadn't arrived on the wings of a zephyr.

"She's right," the deep, familiar voice washed down Jinx's spine spreading equal waves of surprise and delight. A lean, muscular body had situated itself between Jinx and Madame Rouge. "Nobody messes with her, except me," Kid finished.

"You?" the Frenchwoman sneered back.

"What can I say? I'm somebody," Kid shrugged, but the flippant tone and insouciance couldn't hide the obviously protective stance he took separating Rouge from her prey. At the flare of anger in Madame Rouge's eyes, Kid knew his barb had struck home.

"You assume much, too much," Rouge growled, and her fists grew to the size of Mammoth's own meaty hands.

"Jinx is _my_ nemesis," Kid boldly replied. "_I_ get first pounding rights."

Drawing back Madame Rouge looked at Kid from tip to toe, a thoughtful evaluation at the obviously protective posture. The anger cleared from her angular features, and the beginnings of a small smile spread along with a bubble of amusement.

"Hm, we'll be in touch," she said eyes leveled knowingly with Kid's and for a moment, shifting to look pointedly behind him, then she turned on her heel and faded into the night.

Kid waited, quietly and slowly counted to 300, twice, and then turned to confront his favorite Titan.

"Are you an idiot?" he began. "Do you know how long it took me to find," he trailed off when the realization dawned there was no one around to hear his rant only, a top hat resting on the ground.

Sad eyes fell to the hat weighted down with its presence and its owner's conspicuous absence. With a heavy hand and sinking heart, Kid squatted down, gingerly gripped the brim of the hat, and peered inside.

A slow, hesitant smile cracked across the grim cloud hovering in the air and blossomed into a full blown grin. Kid even chuckled and twirled the hat in his hands. Deep inside the depths of the hat a reflective surface the size of a compact mirror twinkled with all the light of the heaven's stars shining overhead. Another chuckle rumbled up Kid's throat and spilled out.

Grinning like he'd just been promised an all you can eat buffet, Kid pushed off the ground, tossed the top hat in the air, and caught it. With a jaunty step, Kid leisurely strolled toward the closest road chuckling all the while. Jinx and her mirrors. Shrugging off the thought, Kid quickly flitted over the items of his to-do list.

Cut ties with the HIVE 5, check. Wipe his records from the HIVE database, check. Relocate him and his to a safe house, check. Help Jinx. For a moment he paused and weighed the last point. He had sort of helped Jinx by sticking up for her and somehow getting Madame Rouge to back off, for the moment, but before he could pick up and leave—which he had to do soon—he needed to fix the rift their last few encounters caused or at least try.

But typical Jinx pulled a typical vanishing act, probably in order to be a responsible Titan, some way or another. Kid still didn't have time to hunt her down and wade through the awkward conversation and explanations she'd demand. He needed to go, yet he couldn't leave yet. Not without saying good-bye somehow. He brightened as an epiphany struck.

…

A weary Jinx returned to the Tower in time to catch the dawn rising over Jump City. With a beleaguered sigh, she flopped down on her bed and absently kicked off her boots. Tracking down a priest in the wee hours of the morning had been exhausting and dragging him out to walk the lines of her battlefield to bless the land and dispel any lingering malevolence had been equally vexing and exhausting. But if Zatanna could use blessed holy water to vanquish Hell harpies, then Jinx would have to take responsibility for the land she had intentionally imbued with her magic. If she hadn't supervised some sort of clean up and left the field untouched, then it would have become a magnet for misfortune and a center point for tragedy. Steps had to be taken.

And to add insult to injury on her return to the field Jinx's top hat had disappeared. She had spent at least an hour combing the land in an effort to find her hat. But eventually common sense and necessity had Jinx returning to the Tower to clean her wounds and finally rest after a very long night.

Burying her head into her pillow, Jinx moaned in annoyance and simply remained still welcoming the sweet beckoning of sleep. Through the lazy spiral into sleep, a thought streaked across her weary mind like a star falling through the heavens. Pushing up on her elbows Jinx rolled over and hazily glared at her trunk resting innocently against the wall. Rolling off her bed and landing on the floor with a painful thump, Jinx pushed herself to her feet. Punch drunk with sleeplessness she swayed uncertainly toward the offending object of her attention. Well, objects.

Innocently unaware of Jinx's foul mood, her top hat, her mysteriously disappearing top hat had been carefully placed on her trunk. Crimson petals of a rose peeked over her hat's brim. But the conclusive piece of evidence for who returned the hat dangled from a gold chain wound around the rose's stem, a pendent of a golden rose. A pendent Jinx hadn't seen for three years since she had bartered the necklace for a safe return to Jump City.

For a moment all desire for sleep forgotten, Jinx knelt transfixed over her hat simply gazing at the unexpected sight before her. A reverent hand lifted to stroke the satin petals, then lingered to cup the necklace. With great care Jinx lifted the rose out of its vase and unwound the chain from the stem. A small smile lingered along with a very faint but growing flush.

The smile evolved into a wicked smirk as Jinx noted the pointed lack of wailing klaxons, flashing warning lights, and lock down procedures. Kid had slithered around the Tower's security, again, without any telltale repercussions, again.

Cyborg was going to be _ticked_.

* * *

Prompt: Suck


	80. Shall We Play

**A/N 5-17-2012**: Hello one and all. I live and apologize again for the delay in updates. A little thing known as real life likes to hinder my writing progress, but nevertheless, here is the arc ending chapter (for the most part). This chapter wraps up season 5 (for the most part) and sets our two favorite characters onto their respective paths for the future. After this arc we have the transition chapters followed by what I think of as the Finale arc, aka the sequence of events I've been hinting at for the past 70(ish) chapters. Not even hinting at times. Looking back sometimes my foreshadowing is as subtle as a brick to the face.

Events referenced in this chapter come from the two season 5 episodes: Calling all Titans and Titans Together. The Brain's dialog in this chapter comes straight from both of these episodes, as does the title of the chapter.

I hope in the future to update faster then the past five months, but the next twenty chapters are unwritten at this point, so all I can promise is to keep writing and give all my readers permission to hound (or bribe) me about updating. A lack of updating doesn't mean a lack of interest, merely a lack of time. I have been looking forward to the next twenty chapters for a very long while and can't wait to cackle evilly in anticipation. So please read, please enjoy, and please stay in touch!

* * *

Chapter 80: Shall We Play

Whatever Madame Rouge encountered in Jump City during her visit proved sufficient to spare the HIVE 5 from a grisly end. The HIVE 5 failed to hold and turn Jinx over to the Brotherhood as both promised and demanded. Yet the Brotherhood similarly failed to carry out the promised punishment for such a failure. Instead they sent a tersely worded transmission dripping of condescension over the HIVE 5's incompetency. A message bristled with scorn and threats but with the slimmest glints of hope also. The HIVE 5 was still in for the Brotherhood's strike, their last chance to prove their worth.

The promise of possessing their lives and not being hunted to the ends of the earth by Madame Rouge, or worse, had the entire HIVE 5 breathing easier for a week. Since Madame Rouge's visit to Jump City when Jinx and Kid trashed the main HIVE 5 base, the HIVE members had relocated to a bunker hidden beneath the streets in the older parts of Jump near the old library. The tunnels twisting beneath the surface proved ideal for a hidden refuge. It was also, according to Billy, fondly dubbed as the Zombie Apocalypse Bunker. Anything the HIVE 5 needed to survive the end of the world or hide out beneath the radar for a few weeks could be found in its depths. Irritable, cranky, and mad with cabin fever, the five exhausted the training rooms, exercise equipment, and gym as they waited for the Brotherhood's signal. They planned, prepared, and polished their best tricks and strategies.

Kid had disappeared almost without a trace. That would prove useful, for See-more remembered. Somewhere between that last confrontation with Kid and retreating into the shadows, all the missing and scattered pieces of memory finally came together. The other him, the member of the six man HIVE 5 under the leadership of HIVE Jinx was real. That raging counterpart existed and had reached out leaving a trail of memories for See-more to find. And, oh, what memories.

Kid had disappeared, breaking ties from the HIVE 5 and an impending strike on the Teen Titans hovered in the near future. See-more's life and the other him's memories were different, but See-more had dug through the H.I.V.E. Academy files, researched the old recruitment files from eight years ago, and had stumbled across the Senior Project. Headmaster Blood had abandoned it in his quest for power.

If what he remembered, and the files he found were any proof, then See-more had a bad feeling about the Brotherhood's plans. But that was what contingency plans were for. And who knew, perhaps somehow this brave new world would provide an end to the Titans. But this was also the world where Jinx eluded the HIVE and became a hero of all things. How, he would never understand.

So when the orders finally came along with a set of coordinates from the Brotherhood, the HIVE 5 knew their orders. Take down the Titans. The Brotherhood's orders were simple. Pre-assigned partners would rendezvous and ambush their assigned target at a set of live coordinates at the Brain's command. The main objective of the Brain's gambit was to strike and scatter the Titans' allies, cutting them off from any reinforcements by occupying all other Titans in one coordinated global strike. For the individual ambushes, the goal was to capture their target, alive preferably, and bring them back to the Brotherhood's main base for processing.

While the goal was to neutralize all captured Titans the Brotherhood had also let it be known that dead or running scared were also acceptable outcomes for the first wave. After all, the Brotherhood was playing a long game. Any stragglers would be hunted down one by one until all threats were eliminated. It was a truly brilliant plan worthy of even the HIVE organization itself, so See-more didn't withdraw the HIVE 5 from the Brotherhood's plans.

Gizmo, Billy, and Mammoth were ordered to head North to capture the honorary Titans Kole and Gnark with Mammoth as backup. Wykkyd would join forces with a psychic known as Psimon to ambush Raven, and See-more, with the aid of a time traveler named Warp, would travel across dimensions to ambush the honorary Titan, Herald.

Rumor said Madame Rouge was going after Robin, and en-route to meet up with Warp, See-more couldn't help but wonder what villainous duo would be set against Jinx, the vigilant watcher of Jump City. For Jinx was still out in Jump City a visible representative of the Teen Titans warding off opportunists seeking to strike with the founding Titans absence. Her presence bolstered the morale of the city and acted as a balm of peace for the citizens. A nasty pair he finally decided and most likely of magical nature.

…

Central City was always on the run, so said the residents of the golden city. Watching the traffic buzz on the roads, and the crowds bustle on the sidewalk flitting from coffee shop to coffee shop, Kid found himself delighted with a city with seemed to be able to keep up with him. But Kid wasn't going to be testing the theory.

The Kid had been set aside. Boots, gloves, mask and jumpsuit were packed away in a duffel bag which rested in a rented locker one city away. West had similarly been set aside. The boy born Wallace Rudolph West hadn't freely roamed the public as himself since he was ten years old.

The errant HIVE speedster now wandered Central city as a seventeen year-old lanky, freckled redhead under the assumed identity as Rudy Smith. As a seventeen going on eighteen student of a small prep school wrapping up his last year of independent study before graduating, Rudy was spending apart of his time in Central City visiting colleges, Star Labs, and investigating future career paths. A pretty lie which had helped deter truant officers from hunting him down.

See-more, if he chose to follow him, would be looking for a trail of petty crimes and minor robberies stamped with Kid's speedster m.o. to track, or he'd have Gizmo searching for any electronic references to "Wally" West. So Kid stayed strictly civilian. He had enough funds to live off of without needing to resort to breaking any laws to live off. Plus any trails or leads back to him had been buried and carefully hidden. And then when hiding Kid had picked the last place in the world See-more would look to find him, Central City.

In any other situation having one speedster in the same city as another would be tempting fate. The two would be inexplicably drawn together. Even if the unnatural ability to sense other nearby speedsters weren't an issue, the two would be unable to avoid the other simply for the fact that if anyone would be able to notice and track the movements of a speedster, then it would be another speedster. Forgetting even the territorial complications that would arise if Kid decided to encroach on the rouge's turf, Kid would be a fool if he tried to get away with any crime at superspeed in the Flash's city.

So Rudy Smith walked the streets, a mischievous, athletic, bored teen. No powers, no ploys, just hiding in plain sight in the middle of the city where Kid had the best chance to observe the Flash in action. For all his preplanned cover about a senior participating in independent study before graduation, the lie had an odd smack of truth, but the best lies were always rooted in some piece of truth.

Today he skulked about in civies at the edge of the police do-not-cross, crime scene tape. He was just another curious bystander standing among the reporters and police personal milling about. Just another innocuous redhead in tan cargo pants, a white t-shirt, and an open grey button up shirt. Face exposed and blues eyes wide and out for the entire world to see, Kid never felt more invisible or fascinated.

The Mirror Master had wreaked havoc again with the Trickster's aid in the most recent disturbance in Central City. But the Flash had raced in and saved the day, apprehended the Mirror Master, and turned him over to the Central City police.

Now only clean up remained, and Kid stared with unabashed interest at the busy flow of people. The street before him was an absolute mess. Smoking piles of green acidic goo clumped at odd intervals on the closed street, and all the windows from the surrounding buildings on the block had been shattered. Glass shards and splinters littered the ground arching beyond the constraints of the crime scene. Trailing off to…Kid craned his neck and brightened.

Gingerly easing through his fellow curious gawkers, he skirted along the edge of the police line and stopped at a break in the crowd. Strewn glass, mirror shards, adorned the patch of grass around him life a spray of crystallized sea foam at the change of tides. Crouching down a questing hand dipped between the blades of grass, rooted about, and withdrew with a mirror shard the size of his palm. He grinned at his grimy reflection, and stood staring admiringly at his prize.

"You might want to put that down," a voice said from behind.

Busted. Not completely faking the sheepish cringe, Kid slowly turned. With a deep breath, he loosened tightened shoulders and scratched the back of his neck.

"Uh…souvenir?" he offered hesitantly while he sized up the newcomer.

A tall, muscled blond man, tall and slim but muscled and dressed casually in blue jeans with a blue button up shirt and matching tie. Rectangular face, square jaw, and the guy had two inches of height and twenty pounds on him, at least. Not angry but a stern glint of warning lingered in the back of blue eyes. Ordinarily, an average Joe like the one before him wouldn't concern Kid even if the guy was an adult. But this guy, the way he held himself screamed of confidence, intelligence, and trouble.

The evaluation went both ways. As the Kid had spoken and summed up all he could of the man before him in milliseconds, so had the man before him. Blue eyes widened minutely, as the man caught a full view of Kid's face, and the warm concern hardened into wariness, and the man's stance and body language changed.

The man nodded toward the shard of mirror clutched in Kid's hand.

"That might be a part of the Mirror Master's Mirrors," he said. "The police will want to see it properly disposed of."

Which was either a polite way of saying, drop the mirror, son, or don't get attached.

"Are you a detective," Kid asked, and let an appropriately awestruck look fill his face. "Are you working on a case?"

He smiled and watched the man before him weigh his deliberately ignorant questions. Hopefully, if Kid acted like an uninformed, brainless, eager civilian, he'd be dismissed as a curious onlooker.

"No, I'm a forensic scientist, and I work with CCPD," the man replied and leveled Kid with a solid, expectant stare. Definitely a drop the mirror message.

The man had presence. Kid would give him that. The no nonsense authoritative tone could rival some of his former teachers back at the H.I.V.E. Academy. In fact, Kid preferred the man's cut the crap stare to some of his teachers death glares. At least the scientist in front of him seemed to have a firm grasp on his temper and sanity. The fact he didn't seem to be a sociopath was also a bonus. Kid could almost respect the man in front of him and consider complying with his request. Except for the fact that he was the Kid, and the scientist was an Adult, an authority figure. The Kid didn't treat many, if any authority figures, with respect.

So he waffled.

Letting out another sheepish laugh, Kid awkwardly smiled and scratched the back of his neck again.

"Cool, very cool, but," he started. The blond scientist arched a considering eyebrow. Kid forged ahead. "It's just, I have family in Jump City. Whenever I visit, I get to see the Teen Titans around town. And one of the Titans can move through mirrors like Mirror Master can."

Both eyebrows were raised at this point.

"I managed to ask her, the Titan, Jinx, about it once when I ran into her," Kid continued. "I, she said both magic and science could be used to travel through mirrors." He shrugged. "So, souvenir." As if that made perfect sense.

Kid stared up at the contemplative blue eyes staring back at him.

"Jinx of the Teen Titans," the forensic scientist repeated.

Kid nodded. "Yeah, I hear she's tight with Robin, the Boy Wonder. They go back. _Way_ back."

"Sounds like you're pretty familiar with this Jinx," the man finally said. "Run into her a lot in Jump City?"

There was a suspiciously baiting undertone to that last comment. Kid smiled the smile of a harmless, stalker fanboy.

"More like I would see her downtown and on the news, especially now that the core Titans left town," Kid shrugged nonchalantly and stuck both hands in his pockets. "They have to have someone looking after their city while they trot the globe on some heroic recruitment quest, so why not Robin's BFF?"

A wicked smile filled with smug satisfaction slid across Kid's face. "The last time I was in Jump, I heard Jinx took on Madame Rouge and fought to a draw. Not to mention she's also rumored to have the HIVE 5 whipped and completely petrified of her."

"Sounds like you like her," the man said, and his weight shifted so that his hard, disapproving stare transformed into a still stern but lightly amused visage complete with an easy smile. "So this Jinx, does she have pointy pink hair, pale skin, and a predilection for gothic clothing?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

The unnamed forensic scientist nodded to a spot behind Kid. "Looks like she's on TV," he said.

Like the gullible, naïve idiot he tried to portray, Kid turned following the telling gaze to a row of television screens lit up behind the remnants of the storefront window of an electronic store.

His heart stuttered, then restarted with a shaky beat as he frantically scanned the caption scrolling across the news channel:

Breaking News: Teenage Superheroes Attacked By Meta-Criminals

The headline itself wasn't the eye-catching, smile freezing, heart stuttering piece of news, but the live feed from Jump City playing over the anchor's right shoulder.

A helicopter camera offered a bird's eye view of the fight centered in the center of one of the many bridges in Jump City focusing on three young heroes huddled together back to back. The shock of pink hair against twin white jumpsuits were easily identifiable.

"…reporting live from Jump City. We are witnessing the middle of a metahuman smack down. Young heroes Jinx, Mas and Menos have banded together..."

Onscreen a glowing motorcycle and biker roared down the highway, blood red symbols gleaming from the bikers hands as he charged the trio.

"…identified as Johnny Rancid…"

Jinx stepped forward, and a vertical wave of magic scarred the center of the highway causing Rancid to swerve around the three. A streak of white shot down the road and circled around the motorcycle.

"…wait, hold on, something's happen—whoa!"

The camera shook, and the skirmish on the bridge was knocked out of its sight. The image tilted and shook but the reporter and pilot pulled together quickly, for the image on screen refocused. A dark, flying shape swooped down over the bridge and plucked up a struggling, magic sparking heroine with bright pink hair. Back on the bridge with the chief distraction wriggling up in the air, Johnny Rancid turned to wipe the highway with the two pint-sized speedsters.

"Oh my god," the reporter breathed, the stunned look still lingering through the break in her composure.

The camera feed shook, rattled, and the reporter on screen paled and clapped a hand over her ears. But the tenacious brunette followed the disturbance across the cockpit, blanched, and turned milk white. Gesturing frantically to her cameraman the picture reoriented and zoomed in on the flying reptile hovering over the bay.

"Jinx is blasting the dragon with wave after wave of magic, but it seems to be having no effect. The, the dragon is circling over the harbor, flying out over the bay, but…wait…oh my god…it's dropping her. The dragon has dropped teen hero, Jinx, right over Jump City Bay."

The tell tale gust from the wake of speedsters path flooded the space of the storefront. Troubled blue eyes studied the empty space previously occupied by the redheaded teen and the lingering air currents before glancing at the video feed to trace the pink-haired teen's fall.

"Wait, hold on a second…"

A muted blur of color streaked across the water of Jump City's harbor. The reporter broke into a hopeful smile as her spirits began to visibly rise as a water funnel roared to life beneath the plummeting Titan's fall. The waterspout stopped as suddenly and unexpectedly as it started, and overhead the dragon roared furiously at its vanished prey.

"There seems to be an outbreak of supercriminals attacking young superheroes..."

But by then forensic scientist Barry Allen, resident of Central City, had turned away from the TV's screen, reached into his pocket, and pushed an earbud into his ear.

"Watchtower," he said while thoughtfully staring off at the redhead's vanished trail. "This is the Flash…"

…

Horrible days, Jinx groused, should come with warning signs: Abandon hope all who leave their beds. Or disclaimers: Warning, today's sunny, perfect day may suddenly be interrupted by evil mooks with nefarious plans. We are not responsible for the loss of your wonderful day.

For Jinx the shrieking klaxons and a muffled curse dragged her from the depths of an impromptu afternoon nap, and its resulting nightmare. Sliding off the main room's couch, Jinx frowned as the alarm cut off abruptly. A quick scan of the room revealed a green figure bent over one of the main computer terminals. Intruder.

From there things passed quickly. Jinx keyed in a silent alarm code in her T-communicator and remotely triggered lockdown in the Tower. Then she crept up behind the intruder's appalling costume (complete with a high collar Count Dracula would kill to possess). The intruder, a psychic unfortunately, spun around and revealed her name, Phobia.

She crowed about how her abilities allowed her to manipulate the fear centers of the brain and create life-like illusions of a person's greatest fear. Phobia then trapped Jinx in an illusion of her greatest fear.

But in the end having her greatest fear ripped from that hidden, shadowy part of her soul and shoved in her face didn't hold Jinx for long. As the klaxons of the Titan alert sounded again Jinx tore through the web of illusion binding her in a blaze of trembling anger. Someone needed her help.

Grabbing Phobia by the ridiculous high collar of hers, Jinx snarled out, "Ekat reh yawa!" and shoved Phobia into the reflection of the computer screen. With the immediate danger passed, Jinx sunk down to the floor and sobbed.

But the horrible day wasn't over. The shrill tones of the alert still rung in her ears. Pulling out her T-communicator, Jinx grit her teeth and received her orders.

"Jinx, help out Mas and Menos."

"On it," she whispered.

Pulling out a mirror Jinx jumped to her closest gateway in the city to the twins coordinates. The journey was invaluable for pulling together her composure and focusing instead on her own displeasure that Johnny Rancid, of all the jerks in the underworld, had decided to pick on her favorite pair of twin speedsters.

After the HIVE 5 kidnapping attempt all those weeks ago, Robin had arranged for Mas and Menos, the fastest of the Honorary Titans, to act as backup for Jinx. The pair would run between Steel City and Jump City at a moment's notice if she needed them and even when she didn't. She'd grown quite fond of her pint-sized, freckled, red-haired speedster teammates. They always had ready smiles, kind (Spanish) words, hearts in their eyes and on their sleeves, and amusing antics to buoy her spirits. For a bully like Johnny Rancid to pick on two kids half his age and size. Well, it was simply unacceptable.

By then chatter on the Titan frequency indicated these ambushes were happening everywhere to everyone. So it really shouldn't have been that big a surprise when the giant dragon appeared. Jinx had at least heard of this ambusher. Malchior formerly trapped in a spell book, master manipulator, and proficient in dark magic. Resistant to physical, energy, and magical attacks and had only been subdued by a curse despite the Titans' best efforts. The black shadow streaking across the sky would begin circling around the bridge when Jinx, Mas, and Menos were holding off Rancid together.

Moving closer to the twins Jinx said, "We can take them down if we stick together."

Two mismatched grins split the twins' faces as they nodded in agreement. For a short moment the hope of survival and success soared even as the rumble of Rancid's engine drew near, and Malchior screeched overhead. They could do this. They had faced bigger and badder and won.

But since today was a horrible day worthy of warning signs and disclaimers, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise when Malchior swooped down and plucked her off the bridge. It also failed to surprise Jinx when Malchior barely flinched at the pink hex energy crawling across his scales. In response to her struggles for freedom the dark dragon hissed and clenched the claws around her waist warningly.

Any other day Jinx would be terrified of her apparent helplessness and the dizzying heights. But survival dominated her thoughts. Never mind the fear and devastation Phobia forced her to live. Never mind the twins attempting to outrun and outwit Rancid. Never mind this horrible mess. She needed out. She needed it now, and she needed to help the twins! So she writhed and swathed Malchior's purple underbelly with biting magic scouring his plates of armor.

Finally, Malchior decided enough was enough, and Jinx could only gasp when Malchior released his grip on her. For a breathless moment she hung motionless in midair. Then gravity coiled about her, and she plummeted toward the choppy waters of the bay.

Water, falling fast, not good, very bad. If the collision itself didn't kill her (stinking surface tension and hydrogen bonds) then she'd probably drown once she was in the water due to the shock of hitting water from such a great height, and by being to disoriented and stunned to swim for or find the surface. If she went for a mirror, she'd only fall faster, and she could barely scream much less speak, and why did her magical abilities and Zatanna's teaching meet an impasse at the constructive use of elemental magic? Sure she excelled at deconstructive elemental magic, but that jolly well didn't help her here and now!

So on a horrible day worthy of locking herself in an underground bunker or a panic room, Jinx took a deep breath, angled into a pencil dive, and braced for impact. Well, if this was the end, then it was a far better end then the one Phobia had drug from the depths of Jinx's soul as she orchestrated an illusion of Jinx's oldest fear. Standing in a ravaged, barren post-apocalyptic world alone with the condemning knowledge, _it was all her fault_.

She had caused this annihilation.

So Jinx closed her eyes and waited to embrace the water. Only, the force of impact and sting of death never came. The waters roared up, twisting into a violent waterspout. Fierce air currents twisted her about, slinging her around, and leeched off speed. It all couldn't have lasted more than a second at most, for she was still falling towards the water, but then she was moving, fast, laterally, and was she being held?

Head still reeling from the sudden change in velocity, and cheek pillowed against soft, cotton covered, firm chest, Jinx tilted her chin upwards and caught sight of her savior.

"West," she sighed in relief. A smile flitted across her face. Perhaps this horrible day wasn't as terrible as it first seemed.

The blurring scenery screeched to a disorienting halt. Suddenly set on her feet, Jinx wobbled before regaining her balance. Holding her at arm's length West quickly scanned Jinx and smiled when he found no serious injuries. Stepping forward he slumped, collapsing almost, and shamelessly used Jinx for support. Stumbling under his weight, Jinx grit her teeth and ignored the weight of West's head resting on her shoulder.

However, the copious amounts of soft prickling hair against the skin of her neck and cheek accompanied with the clean, fresh scent of shampoo proved harder to ignore. Flushing Jinx scowled and wiggled an arm out from under West to reach around and insistently poke the side of his neck.

"West," she said.

The warm weight shifted but didn't reply.

"West," she said again and dug in with the tips of her nails. "Get off," she ordered in her most annoyed yet appropriately grateful voice.

A self-pitying groan rumbled through her left ear, but West complied, leaning off her and shuffling back before plopping onto the ground.

A sound like thunder and crumbling rocks disturbed the bizarre peace of the moment. Dashing to the end of their haven, Jinx skidded out of the alley and looked around.

"Baker Street," she said and fought a groan. Meaning she was on the opposite side of the city from Mas and Menos. She needed to get back, now.

Running back into the alley, she slid to a stop before West. Her eyebrows climbed.

"West, what are you doing?" she asked.

West had changed positions. Instead of sitting lifelessly hunched over his crossed legs, West had decided laying spread eagled on the ground was a more comfortable position with all his limbs splayed out at odd angles.

West running her back to the bridge would be faster than traveling through the Mirror Realm. Letting out a short sigh, Jinx crossed her arms and peered down at West.

"May I have a ride?" she asked, foot tapping.

A blue eye cracked open.

"Can't," he answered.

Squashing down her rising irritation, Jinx squatted down beside West's prone form.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Can't do it," West replied. "No more running, not today."

"Why?" Jinx asked as she squashed down the urge pull out a mirror and leave. She could have been halfway to the bridge by now. But West was still faster transportation, and he had just saved her life, again. She scowled at that thought.

"Need food," West moaned.

Jinx scoffed. "Since when?" she demanded.

Two grey shoulders shrugged, and West opened both eyes to listlessly stare at the sky. "Speedsters have a high metabolism. We need a lot of food to keep running," he snickered at the pun.

"West, in all the time I've known you, I've never seen you munching or mooning over food."

"Well," Kid shifted, winced, and sat up. "You're very distracting."

Jinx ignored the heated flush rising on her cheeks. She was angry not embarrassed. At her pointed lack of comment West exhaled and gazed soberly back at Jinx.

"Jinx, I sprinted halfway across the country, from the Midwest, across the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, through Death Valley, to the coast, and then to Jump City Bay in less than five seconds, so I could catch you before you smacked into the Bay while compensating for the lag time of a television signal broadcast. I'm _hungry_."

It was the first time West had ever sounded petulant around her. Not an ingrate Jinx began digging into her skirt pockets. When West let another pathetic moan go, her rummaging speed increased to assuage the faint sting of guilt. Paperclips, twine, lock pick kit, mini tool kit, T-communicator, pack of cards, make-up bag, change purse, plastic chicken, aha!

Palming the crackling plastic wrappers, Jinx smirked and took aim. Three brilliantly colored snack bars smacked into West's forehead. Examining the labels on the package, he scowled.

"This isn't food," he protested waving the offensive objects in the air. "This is a snack!"

The poor lamb actually sounded insulted.

Eyeing the perfectly acceptable Nurtri-Grain, Fiber One, and Protein bar West held, Jinx arched a challenging eyebrow. "It's all I have. Unless you don't want them."

A quick crinkling of plastic and, hands empty, West morosely munched on his provisions. Swallowing dryly, West clutched his stomach and pouted as it growled loudly.

"Ok, you're fed. Let's go," Jinx snapped. Striding forward, she caught hold of West's wrists, she pulled him to his feet, and began to drag him toward the end of the alley.

"I need a ride, pretty please," she said, and yelped as the pliant, limp arm resisted, jerking her to a stop. West had stopped, and not matter how Jinx pulled or pointedly glared at him, he refused to move. Shifting his grip so his hand wrapped around her wrist, West refused to let her go.

"I'm not taking you back," he said.

Patience lost Jinx jerked against his grip and said, "Fine, I'll go back myself."

"You can't." Face grim and drawn, West frowned and reluctantly admitted. "You can't help them now. It's a trap."

At this Jinx drew still and quietly listened as the exiled HIVE agent explained the Brotherhood's global ambush and ultimate end game.

…

Revenge was sweet. The Titans were scattered across the globe, isolated and afraid. The frozen heroes reaped from the first wave served as visible trophies of the Brotherhood. All of the Brotherhood's allies in this venture had gathered in the trophy room where Professor Chang flash froze all captured heroes and displayed them for all to see. All crowded around to see the crown jewel of the collection, Robin, Boy Wonder and leader of the Teen Titans.

The individual villains were reduced to the mentality of a mob. Clustered together they cheered, jeered, and booed as one, easily lead by the slightest stimulus. Such as the Brain speaking.

Robin stood across the platform from the Brain, cuffed yet defiant while the united enemies of the Titans yelled for him to meet his fate. The Brain, fully confident in his victory, monologued.

"…each small victory brings us closer to an even greater prize, the elimination of an entire generation of heroes, and we owe it all to you, Robin."

See-more had never particularly liked Robin, but even he couldn't help respect that Robin didn't even flinch as the Brain verbally tore him apart.

"Your network has been crushed. Your friends have no way to communicate or follow your commands. Together you may be formidable, but apart you are lost, powerless, mine."

Face expressionless and any emotion guarded ferociously behind that domino mask, Robin remained silent as he looked out across the room of his enemies, cheering and calling for his demise, and See-more couldn't help but feel the smallest sliver of pity for the defeated hero.

"You will fall one by one," the Brain concluded. "Who among you can possibly stop me?"

Following Robin's freezing, See-more counted the Brotherhood's frozen trophies, the small victories leading to the Brotherhood's greater prize. Robin, of course, Speedy, a pint-sized speedster named Menos, Aqualad, Thunder and Lightning, some hero named Bushido, and two others he didn't recognize. But no Beast Boy, no Jinx, no Bumble Bee. Of the five founding Titans only Robin had been caught, a worthy prize, but that left four founders in the wind. If the Easter egg See-more had found in the Zombie Bunker and the Senior Project case study were any indication, then having any of the four founders missing would be very bad for the Brotherhood.

So See-more pitied Robin and listened to the Brain's address with all due reverence, yet he couldn't help thinking about his own speech and last minute briefing before the HIVE 5 parted ways.

"_We're a team. We fight together. We win and fall together. We come back for our own. If things go wrong, and they will, get out of there. The Titans will stop at nothing to avenge themselves and save their teammates if the Brain's plan goes sour. Lay low, and come back for anyone that doesn't make it out. Then we will continue and bring down the Titans, together."_

So when Beast Boy and his motley group of misfits infiltrated the Brotherhood's base, See-more wasn't surprised. Leaping into the fray he helped capture and subdue the heroes but didn't bat an eye when the three remaining founders reappeared with reinforcements. Even when a battle royale broke out, even when the frozen Titans were defrosted, and even when Jinx appeared in the middle of the fray in the arms of a certain speedster, he wasn't surprised.

Noting some changes with interest, such as Raven collecting and dumping the Titans' opponents underneath Chang's freeze ray for the reunited twins to freeze, and Kid disappearing as suddenly as he came, See-more accepted the Titans comeback. Even as he watched his scattered team be rounded up and frozen, he didn't despair. Perhaps it was fate or destiny for the Titans to triumph here. But even as he lay sprawled beneath Chang's tech watching the building glow for his imminent cryogenic induced hibernation, he couldn't suppress his building anticipation as he remembered his parting words to his teammates.

"_I have a plan to topple the Titans forever, and it will work. It already has."_

* * *

Prompt: Exile


	81. Prelude

**A/N 6-08-12:** Wow, I'm getting better at this. First there was the three month wait, then the two month wait, so this is what three-ish weeks since the last update? Improvement! Well, this isn't the most exciting chapter I've written or the longest. There isn't a lot of action, wit, plot twists, or cliff hangers, but this is the beginning of the end. Enjoy the calm while it lasts because the storm will surely follow in time.

* * *

Chapter 81: Prelude

"You could come with," she had said.

Jinx, that is.

On the run from a rather determined dragon and a tenacious teleporting illusion mistress, both who had rallied quite unexpectedly, Jinx had yanked him behind a sand dune (in Colorado, mind), and asked (well offered) to let him, Kid, come with her, the (Honorary) Teen Titan to bust the Brotherhood of Evil's plans at their (not so) secret lair. It was the second time in his (short) memory that she had left him (_him_, The KID) speechless.

But then Malchior had soared overhead screeching a Nazgul's scream (some sort of Fear Magic or so Jinx had said), and Phobia had crested the top of their sand dune, so he had been too busy grabbing Jinx and running for their lives (again) to properly reply. This had worked for him because he really hadn't known how to answer.

Actually, that was a lie.

He had known exactly how he would have (and did) answer that question, no. But Malchior and Phobia's combined bloodlust had thankfully prevented Kid from answering. Kid's memories of the last time he had refused Jinx's request for assistance against Madame Rouge and her subsequent response to his refusal still cut deeply. A small part of him still ached at the memory of watching Jinx's hope and belief (in him!) die, snuffed from her eyes by his own words (the look on her face…the disappointment). He had never felt more like a cad then he did on that day (which may have been part of the reason why he went back).

"I can't," he had said. Back on those sand dunes, out of uniform, and trying desperately to help his (very dear) _friend_, he couldn't go and stand against the Brotherhood. The HIVE 5 had been allied with the Brotherhood, and See-more still knew too much about him. He could help Jinx escape capture and thwart her ambushes, but he couldn't run north, stand with her on a suicide mission, and play the hero.

So once again, he had told her no, and once again it had almost killed him to say so. Fortunately, Jinx had understood. There had been no lectures about his potential (or hypocrisy), nor any passionate, emotional appeals to his humanity (or heart). She had only given him a wistful smile then asked him for the next best thing, a ride to the Brotherhood's (not so) Top Secret Base (in Paris, France, home of the Eiffel Tower and Interpol. Yeah).

So after a nap and a proper meal with real food for both of them, he had run her to Paris fully prepared to potentially bid farewell to her (forever), only to walk into a full out brawl, teenage heroes against villains of all ages and affiliations. He had not been greeted by a triumphant Brotherhood crowing over their victories and trophies. Instead he had seen the Brotherhood (and its allies) actually having to fight whatever wrench had been thrown into their plans. Brotherhood of Evil or not, they had decided to mess with the Teen Titans, and the Teen Titans had the uncanniest knack of changing from underdogs to doing the impossible.

So, he hadn't lingered. The fight could have gone either way, but no matter how much Jinx believed, hoped, or claimed otherwise, West knew he didn't belong alongside the Titans. Out of the many things he denied, avoided, or tried to outrun, he knew he was not a hero or even hero material.

So not even a month after the assembled Teen Titans (honorary and original) triumphed in all their glory, he sat on a public park bench in Central City at a complete loss. The Brotherhood was defeated, and many of its allies were in custody, but he had yet to reemerge from his exile. His last overt use of super speed had been running across the Atlantic from France. But even with the honorary Titans drifting away from the Titan's Tower, he had yet to return to Jump City.

He wasn't planning on returning.

For once West allowed himself to admit that he was tired of being the Kid, graduate from the H.I.V.E. Academy for Extraordinary Young People, former member (defector) of the HIVE 5. He was sick of being Kid, the nameless, goofball, immature lackey of the H.I.V.E., but he didn't know what he wanted to do or be.

For the first time in years, he was free. Free from the H.I.V.E., yet having slipped the grip of the H.I.V.E. he still wasn't safe. The H.I.V.E. had other branches outside of its Academy, so he was still stuck laying low as a nondescript civilian, as "Rudy".

To reassume his public identity as Wally West after seven years would undermine everything he had accomplished. He would be found as Wally. If he tried to zip over to Jump City to visit Jinx only to be caught by the Titans or anyone else, then he would be found. This left him between Keystone and Central City as just another run of the mill superhero fanboy.

He had no idea who Rudy was outside of the function of a cover. After so many years within the H.I.V.E. even if he could become Wally West again by some miraculous intervention, he didn't know who Wally West was anymore. For so long he had been the no name kid at the H.I.V.E., and finally The Kid, so when freedom came knocking, and he somehow miraculously found the world at his feet with the ability to do or be whatever he wanted (within reason), he couldn't escape the part of his life he hated the most, Kid.

After so long he had no idea of who to be other than Kid, and now that he never had to be Kid again, he had no idea what to do. Freedom proved to be a double edged sword, for in all his years enchained to the H.I.V.E.'s service, he had never felt quite so lost before as he did now.

* * *

Prompt: North


	82. Encounters

**A/N 6-25-12:** A pretty tame chapter all things considering. A peek into the past and a generous heaping of dramatic irony are the only two significant things of note to take in. Enjoy the read!

* * *

Chapter 82: Encounters

After kicking around both Central and Keystone City moving at the pace of a limping snail also known as _normal_ speed, West, for lack of anything better to do, found himself slipping into a familiar habit, Flash watching. The H.I.V.E. Academy carefully trained and reared its sole speedster like the treasure they believed him to be. For the first few years, West received private lessons and tutoring sessions where various faculty members would attempt to train and nurture the growth of his powers. As a smart kid who knew the only speedster around to learn from was the Flash, West had recognized the concepts and moves that his tutors tried to teach him had originated from the Flash. West had known his teachers had been diligently studying the Flash's repertoire of skills and techniques to pass along as lessons for him. But no one had even breathed the name Flash around him. After finally acquiring such a valuable asset, the H.I.V.E. hadn't dreamed about exposing West to _bad_ influences.

But that all changed when Brother Blood ascended through the H.I.V.E. ranks. After the first failure to slip West under his control, Blood had stopped all private tutoring. Unnecessary luxuries, he had claimed, especially coupled with West's _attitude problem_. Headmaster Blood hadn't approved of strengthening the one member of his student body resistant to his control. But _Stone_ had stolen the spotlight of Blood's scrutiny off of West (a turn of events he had never truly thanked Cyborg for).

As a member of the HIVE 5, as Kid, West had been able to gather his own resource material and research about the Flash in order to understand his own powers more completely. But those days had passed. So for the sake of learning, knowledge, and solidifying his cover as a Flash fanboy, ticket in hand, West marched up a memorable set of steps and entered the Flash Museum of Central City.

The rush of chilled air was a soothing balm to the tracks of sweat gliding down his neck. Pushing a familiar pair of yellow goggles up past his hair line, West took off his fire hydrant red Flash ball cap and stuck it in his jean's pocket. With a wry grin, he walked into the museum's halls only to catch a glimpse of his reflection in one of the display cases. A yellow lightning bolt boldly blazed through a white circle, the distinct emblem of the Flash, proudly borne upon a t-shirt as red as his own hair.

The wonderful thing about West's yellow goggles, Flash shirt, and hat, and the Flash themed Vans on his feet (complete with a pattern of lightning bolts scattered across the shoe) was that West stood out. But by standing out as a Flash fanboy in the middle of the Flash Museum (in Central City, the home of The Flash) he blended right in. People would see just another Flash groupie. His cover's label would hide West better than any wig, mask, make-up or deserted wilderness.

The Flash Museum had everything. Wax statues of the Flash's rouges in a Rouges Gallery, displays containing trophies and memorabilia, such as one of Captain Boomerangs' boomerangs, a spiked top formerly a part of the Top's arsenal, and a globe with small figures of the Flash and Superman racing around the globe. There was even a section of the museum dedicated to the Flash's allies with descriptions of who the hero in particular was and all they and the Flash had done together. A tall statue of the Green Lantern towered above in a heroic pose. For a moment West stared wistfully up at the statue.

But then reality beckoned. Shaking himself out of his day dreams, West backed away from the statues in front of him. Even if he wanted something like the scene before him, it would never happen.

With a sigh, West turned and smacked right into a passing museum visitor. The visitor let out a startled shriek. Cringing, West darted forward and caught her before she hit the ground.

"I'm sorry," he apologized as he helped his victim to her feet. "I didn't see you, and I really should have been looking where I was going."

"No, it's fine. I didn't get out of your way," West's victim, a pretty brunette in her thirties, replied.

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. It's fine."

"Uh…," West said. Backing off a few steps West hunched his shoulders up in a half shrug. "You ok?"

"Yeah, great," the brunette lady said, and shot him a dazzling, reassuring smile.

Shuffling his feet, West spared the lady a wan smile as he lapsed into uncertain silence. Pretty girls he could handle, but beautiful women old enough to be his mom, or aunt, or any older female relative of his (if he had any), not so much.

The lady smiled and offered her hand. "My apologies, where are my manners, I'm—," a sharp bump against her shoulder from another museum visitor pushed the lady forward, knocking her off balance, and West found himself darting forward and catching her arm. Eyes narrowing, he steadied the lady and with a quick, "Hold that thought," he darted into the crowd after the rude passerby.

"Hey," he said, grabbing the teenager by the shoulder, and he held out an expectant hand.

"The lady's wallet and _all_ of its contents." Green eyes spit fire back at him, but West deepened his own glare. The pickpocket backed off with a grumble and released the stolen wallet. West spared himself a toothy smirk before schooling his features back to a more socially acceptable sheepish smile. Little minnows knew better than to mess with a shark.

"I'm sorry; I just saw them take this. Uh, here you go ma'am." He thrust the wallet back into its owner's hands, the brunette lady.

For a moment, she seemed stunned, but then a knowing look twinkled in the back of her golden-brown eyes. Reaching out she retrieved her purloined wallet, quickly leafed through its contents. Satisfied she tucked it back in her purse.

"Thank you," she said and smiled once more. "I didn't even notice it was gone."

West shrugged. "Well, they snatched it when they bumped you, and used to bump to distract you while they grabbed it out of your purse. It's pretty basic," he trailed off and flushed a deep red to the tips of his ears as he realized just how incriminating his rambling explanation sounded.

"I mean, I've got good eyes. You have to be careful in crowds like this. It's easy for things to go missing." He ducked his head and hunched his shoulders up in an effort to hide his burning ears.

Pulling her purse closer to her side, the lady's smile turned thoughtful. "Well, thank you again. Pardon my nosiness, but why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" West stuttered. "Ma'am," He hastily added.

The lady gestured with her hands between herself and the crowds. "Go after them like that? You should have called security."

West's stomach dropped. "Uh," he stalled as his mind flashed through the thousand possible answers to her question.

Should he go with honesty? That his gut reaction to the situation had been rooted in a thief's pride? No one picked your mark before you did. But the implications. The lady _wasn't_ his mark. He was just playing tourist and laying low which meant no illegal activities.

In the end West drew inspiration from his surroundings (duh, Flash Museum, Kid).

"I-it, seemed like the…_right_ thing to do?" he stuttered.

The lady hummed an once more peered at him with a weighing measure.

She extended her hand. "I'm Iris Allen."

Reaching out, West gripped her hand and shook it.

"Rudy Smith," he answered.

"Well, Rudy, why don't we take this over to a less crowded area of the museum," Ms. Allen said as she pulled the strap of her purse higher onto her shoulder. "It wouldn't do to have my wallet stolen again."

Feeling strangely trapped (which was completely ridiculous) West followed her. The ensuing conversation commenced at a whirlwind pace with _Mrs_. Allen gamely taking the lead. First, they discussed West's name, Rudy. Was it really Rudy or was it short for something? At the revelation that Rudolph was West's cringe worthy first name, Iris (because she insisted to be called Iris) revealed she had a brother named Rudolph also. Of course, West laughed at this (to think that someone else shared that horrible name). West's father's name was also Rudolph, which he mentioned. But he did not mention that his father's name was the inspiration for that part of his cover's name. So he, of course, said he'd been named after his dad. Both had laughed.

From there West suddenly found himself plied with concessions, popcorn, soft pretzels, and soft drinks. He'd declined more food after that. It wouldn't do, after all, for him to save Mrs. Iris's wallet from a pickpocket only to have his bottomless stomach clean it out instead. In return Mrs. Iris peppered him with questions.

Did he like the Flash Museum? Had he ever been to the Museum before? Was he here with his family? Oh, he was living in the city alone, why? Did he keep in contact with his family, err, mother? How thoughtful, his mother must appreciate his frequent visits.

Eventually, West gave up trying to understand and started smiling and nodding in response to Mrs. Iris's questions. Somehow the whirlwind of Q&A slowed down until Mrs. Iris ended up giving West one last smile and her business card with the parting remarks to call her if he needed anything, even a home cooked dinner. She and her husband would be happy to help him.

Numbly grasping the business card in his fingers, West simply stared at her retreating figure slack-jawed. He held the distinct impression that he had either just met the nicest, chattiest, and most inquisitive woman in Central City, or he had just been the mark of a stunning scam carried out by the best con artist in the city. He glanced down at her business card.

Iris Allen. Photojournalist, Reporter for Picture News.

Well, that explained a lot.

…

A box waited for West when he returned to his apartment for the night. In fact, the cardboard box even had his name, Mr. West, followed by his apartment number and address for Central City. The return address cited Titans Tower Jump City. Swallowing the sudden lump in his throat, West gingerly picked up the box, held it away from his as if it emitted a noxious fume, and let himself into the apartment.

He then proceeded to successfully ignore the box for the rest of the evening. He sped read through all fifteen books on loan from the Central City Library ten times, ate five snacks, made three dinners, waved at two lovebird joggers below his window, and marvled at the sight of a stuffed animal partridge placed among the branches of a pear tree on one of his neighbors' balconies.

Still the box called to him, literally.

"West, _West_. Open the box, Kid."

There was something about a box vocally threatening you that practically screamed of Jinx

"West, if you don't open this box in the next ten seconds, then I'm going to come through, and believe me, it won't be pretty if I come through."

By this point the box had gone from rustling to jumping about in its place of honor on the floor beneath his trashcan. At Jinx's, "I know you're there, West," he finally caved. Zipping over he pried the box open and found a hand mirror inside. A glowing hand mirror, but a hand mirror all the same. Picking up the mirror was a different story. Instead of seeing a shock of red hair and the familiar sprinkle of freckles across his cheeks just below his big, blue eyes, West saw Jinx.

"About time," she muttered before her expression brightened, and West found himself dazzled again by a second stunning smile. "Hey West, long time no see."

"Uh," West coherently said.

Jinx breezed right on. "Really, when you didn't reappear in Jump, I was worried. Where have you been?"

"Um…"

"Don't answer that. I know, I know, Central City. I did manage to track you down after all. An interesting choice for relocation, but enough was enough. It took me two weeks to track you down, West, and don't get me started on the cost of shipping."

"Jinx, the point?" he interrupted. Jinx's accusative face inside the hand mirror paused then softened.

"What's up, West?" Jinx finally said. "I haven't seen you around lately, and I wanted to talk," she trailed off.

Blinking at the mirror, West smiled as his erratic heartbeat calmed, and his stomach returned to fill the empty pit of its absence.

"Interesting solution. So," here he smiled (his self entitled and practiced) roguish smile, "miss me?"

"Well, yes," Jinx replied and pointed up at the mirror's frame. "Obviously."

Heartbeat tripping over itself once more, West grinned even wider then before and sunk down the wall to rest on the floor.

They talked late into the night about anything, everything, and nothing. And they did so the next night, the night after, and the night after that, and for many following nights.

* * *

Prompt: Shipping

For my anonymous reviewers:

Thank you for reviewing. I just wish I had a way to reply to guys other then at the bottom of a chapter, but here it goes.

Here's the update, and bonus, more West. You all flatter me unnecessarily, but I'm glad you're enjoying the read.

Meow: I'm sorry, I suppose, for ruining your productivity for that day. I'm glad you like you DTRH. I'm impressed that you read all 81 chapters in a day. Bravo.


	83. Visitors

**A/N 8-10-12**: I'm Back! Standard Disclaimer: We will have two very special guests join us for the majority of today's chapter. They're coming straight from the pre-DC reboot comics universe. Like the chapter title says they are visiting my alternate Teen Titans TV universe. So this makes it a small crossover which will be fully explained in due time. The disclaimer: our special guests are _visitors_ and should not in any way be taken as part of a predetermined future/ending for our much beloved flinx pairing. Their presence neither confirms nor denies the romantic success or failure of flinx in DTRH. That is all.

Here's a West centered chapter full of hi-jinks, dramatic irony, and lots of giggles. Thank you all for your reviews, questions, and time, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 83: Visitors

The day started off ordinarily enough (all days seemed to now). Wake up, roll out of bed, engage in the regular routine for the day, then bam! Hello strange occurrence.

During his stay in Central City only two other days struck West's memory as beginning ordinary only to end with an unexpected twist. The first day was the day the Brotherhood struck, and he had met that strange police scientist before he had run off to literally catch Jinx. The second day which stood out among his humdrum, slow, repetitive, redundant, legal, low key, and sluggish pursuits and wanderings had between the day of the Flash Museum visit where he had met Mrs. Iris and by an odd stroke of luck had garnered her favor. He still had her business card, dog-eared, smudged but unused tucked away in his wallet.

Two different days, two odd individuals, and now West faced another interesting turn of events as he held two wriggling children, one tucked under each arm, and both plucked from the street and out of danger by him at super speed in public in the middle of a crowd in front of news cameras.

So much for laying low.

Perhaps starting from the beginning (again) was necessary. The day started off ordinarily enough. For West, it would be another day spent Flash watching wearing a Flash t-shirt and other appropriate clothes to fit in as another enthusiastic Flash fan (minus the face paint). While West did his best to stay incognito and out of contact of certain questionable crowds in the city, he did use his lessons at the H.I.V.E. to his advantage. In his quest to observe the Flash, a scarce fellow speedster, West had kept his ear to the ground to listen for the rumblings which would precipitate an event which would both acquire the Flash's attention and require his presence to resolve.

So when Captain Boomerang and the Flash faced off on the streets of Central City, West was there, another face among the scattered ring of onlookers avidly tracking each and every move of both men. Flying boomerangs, a human cyclone, giant boomerangs, flocks of boomerangs, all were the norm for such an event.

So far all was normal; except West had the oddest feeling that something wasn't right. The sensation was like an elusive itch, a strange pull, or feeling a tap on his shoulder only to turn and find no one there. The sensation was much like hearing his name called from a distance but being unable to find the caller. The gut feeling nagged at West for fifteen, almost twenty minutes before the Flash and Rogue clash started, but he had nothing to account for it (except maybe food poisoning).

In the middle of the fray, Captain Boomerang seemed to be herding the Flash to a predetermined spot. An ambush, perhaps? West didn't have long to wonder. The Captain crowed triumphantly at the Flash, and a veritable flock of boomerangs not thrown at the Flash, but toward civilians appeared. If the small blinking red lights on the boomerangs and the Flash's hasty response to kick up his speed were anything to go by, then that was an exploding flock of boomerangs winging out toward the loitering (idiotic, adrenaline junky) bystanders.

West wasn't too worried. His eyes tracked the Flash's moves as the hero focused on containment. He grabbed the ones at the edges of the empty no man's land closest to the cops, news reporters, and pedestrians caught in the crossfire, and he left the less ranged trajectories to return to their point of origin at least until he could swing by to grab those also. But the Flash had an armful of boomerangs counting down to an explosion, and he needed to ditch them _fast_. The man could only go so far, so fast and carry so much at a time without missing any strays.

A pair of single digit twits decided to make a break for freedom from shelter and run across the pavement straight toward a fallen, rapidly blinking boomerang. The pint sized idiots!

West didn't think, or blink; he _moved_. Darting forward, he rushed out of his safe haven, grabbed the numbskull, empty-headed kids reaching for that boomerang, slung one under each arm, kicked the boomerang away from him and any other unfortunate bystanders, and ran as far and as fast from the scene as he could. He cleared half the city by the time his thoughts caught up with his actions. Skidding to a halt, West unceremoniously dumped the kids out onto the grass of a park.

Slowing down into real time the sprawled forms of the two kids twitched as the dazed children caught up with their stable surroundings. West, uncaring of the slowpokes recovery time, was already towering over the kids and growling at them.

"Are you insane?" He spat and treated the young red-haired girl and black-haired boy to a disapproving glare. "Did you twerps lose your minds? _What were you thinking_? You were almost _killed_."

The kids could have only been ten at the most. The wind ruffled redhead blinked up at West with green eyes surrounded by a generous sprinkle of freckles across her face. The boy, her brother, scowled up at West. His cross look distorted his brown eyes and spiky black hair. They didn't look like siblings at first glance. Although the pair did share similar facial features and bone structure, the way the two moved together and exchanged identical shocked glances at the angry teenage guy in front of them was all the proof West needed for a family connection.

The two were still staring at him. Not in shock or awe, as would be expected after being transported between two parts of the city almost instantly, and both had lost the dazed disorientation from traveling at super speed. The girl's long ginger hair tumbled across her face and down her green shirt as she stared up at West with clear disappointment even as tiny rosebud lips curved into a tiny _oh_. The brother scrunched his eyebrows together and peered up at West with unveiled wariness. Both were studying him intensely and _not_ answering his questions.

"Well?" West asked (well, growled) at the pair.

An astonishing thing happened then. Instead or crying or folding or falling for any of West's intimidations, the girl's disappointment changed into anger.

"You're not Dad," she accused. Jumping to her feet she swept her disheveled hair behind her ears, jutted out her chin, and glared at West.

"You're right. I'm not your dad," West said. "But if I was, I would still ask what the heck were you guys thinking? Running out into the middle of a Rogue fight? You guys were almost boomerang dust."

"_You're_ not the Flash," the girl said instead wagging a finger at him. She squinted at him and frowned. "You look weird. Your eyes are wrong."

And she stared at West as if she expected, nay, as if she was owed an explanation. West gaped at her. No gratitude, no explanations, just entitled insubordination. The girl was nuts. He turned to the brother.

"Look, you were both very dumb back there, and almost got hurt really badly. You two should have stayed put until the police evacuated you or the fight ended. Even your dad would agree with me on this."

On his feet, the boy sidled over to stand beside his sister and kept watching West intently. Sighing in resignation, West uncrossed his arms and ditched the glare.

"Look, do you need help getting home or calling your parents," he asked, "or a babysitter or someone?"

But the girl was pushing past her brother and marching up to West after once again not answering his questions.

"What are you wearing?" she demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Growling under his breath West arched an eyebrow. "Trying to help the most lack witted twits I've ever had the misfortune of meeting."

The girl gasped, and her anger changed to shock. She seemed stunned.

"No, no, no," she sputtered. "You're supposed to—you can't—why aren't you helping the Flash?"

Shifting from foot to foot West loomed over the siblings, "Because I'm not a hero, ingrates."

"But you're _Wally West_," the girl exclaimed. "Of course you'd help out."

A cold chill ran down West's spine at the sound of his name. He also frowned at the reverence which she spoke his name, as if it meant something.

"Irey," the boy whispered and lightly nudged her.

West peered down at the pair of kids with the same intensity they stared up at him.

"My name is _Rudy_," he stressed.

The girl (Irey, apparently) goggled at him, but her brother spoke.

"But you hate your middle name," he said, the unspoken question lingering between them. Well, West never had the opportunity to answer that assertion, for a new arrival entered the scene. A gust of air blew around the trio.

Releasing a pent up breath West let all his tension and discomfort go. All that was left was a relaxed frame which he quickly filled with the appropriate façade for the occasion. Whipping around, West let an awestruck smile slip onto his face, for there stood the Flash in all his crimson glory taking in the state of the three.

"You kids alright?" the hero asked, stepping toward them.

Drawing in a deep breath, West summoned forth the tip of babbling flattery ready to play his part, but he never had the chance to speak.

"Uncle Beary!" two kids shrieked. The pair launched themselves at the speedster and latched onto his legs with tight bear hugs. The Flash stumbled backwards then looked down at the two kids in something resembling shock.

_Welcome to my world_.

Eyes spying the object of the kids' cry, West smothered a chuckle at the remnants of fabric and stuffing clinging to the Flash's suit. He thought he'd seen the Flash and Captain Boomerang brawling near a Stuff-a-Bear store. Stepping forward, West plucked off the surprisingly intact teddy bear clinging to the side of the Flash's head caught on a wingtip. Following his movement, Irey grinned when West handed her the bear.

"Is this what you're looking for?" West asked.

Irey nodded eagerly and cuddled the stuffed bear tightly to her chest, then turned and leveled the full force of her childish charm and wide green eyes on the Flash.

"I've always wanted to meet you," she told the superhero and reattached herself onto the Flash's leg in another bone crushing hug.

Relaxing, the Flash laughed and ruffled the kids' hair.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too,"

"Irey," the girl piped up eagerly.

"Jai," her brother said quietly (in comparison). Jai's watchfulness still lingered in the corners of his eyes even as he grinned up at the Flash.

Crouching down to the kids' eye level, the Flash smiled. "Well, Irey, Jai, are you two doing alright? Do you need help finding your families?"

Jai and Irey exchanged glances. Canting her head to the side, Irey jutted her bottom lip into a pout. Jai rolled his eyes then walked over to hover near West's side.

"No," he said and pointed up at West. "He said he'd help us find our babysitter."

Face lighting up in delight, Irey tackled West with a bone crushing hug. The Flash dubiously looked at the three.

"Are you three family?" he finally asked.

"Yes!"

"_No_."

"It's complicated," Jai finished. "But he'll help us."

Then two sets of puppy dog eyes, one green and another brown, pleaded with West. Tempted to break into a pout himself, West held the kids' stares. Decisions, decisions, should he help these blatantly lying children who knew way to much about him, or let the Flash handle the situation (providing that the Flash had finished kicking Captain Boomerang's can)? Was there even a question to begin with?

"Yeah, I've got these two," he finally said with complete honesty to the Flash. "I'll make sure they get home."

The Flash's intense scrutiny eased with a quirk of the Flash's lips. A pleased smile grew on his masked countenance as Irey squealed and tightened her hug to back breaking strength. Jai quietly giggled at West's strangled _urk_ of pain.

The siblings, twins apparently, trailed after West like motherless ducklings for the rest of the afternoon. It was complete and utter madness. As soon as the Flash had left, satisfied with West's pledge of safety (as if West was about to let the Flash into close and prolonged quarters with kids who knew his real name and the fact that he had superpowers) West had asked Jai and Irey where they could meet up with their babysitter, where they lived, and/or how to get in contact with said babysitter, their parents, or other family members. The kids had waffled.

The most coherent response he got out of them was they lived in Keystone, but didn't remember their current address or how to get home. But then Jai said their home probably didn't exist yet (as in hadn't been built). Their parents were either "out of town" or "experiencing identity crises" (thus conveniently unable to look after them). As for the baby sitter, "the nice lady will come and take us home when it's time to go (if she finds us," Jai had added)."

In the end it took all of West's restraint not to track down the Flash and hand over the troublesome, evasive, uncooperative hellions, or dump the twins on the steps of the CCPD main station. Not like the kids would let him. They clung to West's side like emotionally starved (or just starved) leeches, hanging off his arms and waist as dead weights. Plus, deep down (very deep down) he didn't have the heart to turn the kids loose, especially once the pair let it slip that they were metas.

West chalked it up to sibling rivalry. Stranded and dependent on the mercy of an almost complete stranger, and the two still found a way to drive each other up the wall. They bickered like, well, siblings. Tempers ran high as the afternoon progressed, and the kids grew increasingly bored, frustrated, and impatient. Irey wanted to run around and see _everything_ while talking a mile a minute about taking the situation into their own hands and finding their own way hone. Jai, seemingly the levelheaded one of the two, wanted to stay quiet, stay calm, and stay out of trouble all while staying near West. Because staying near West, apparently, was the next best thing to getting back home, where they belonged (heaven help their parents. West extended his fullest pity and sympathy).

This difference in opinions morphed into a disagreement, which grew into name calling, which escalated into shouting, and finally resulted in Irey running through Jai while Jai's muscle mass quadrupled before West's eyes. The very public use of the two's powers only ended with West's intervention. The two froze in place at his shout of, "Enough!"

Heads hanging down the twins gave West a sheepish chorus of _yes sir_. Both stared up guiltily at West. West hid his own stare of disbelief beneath a stern disapproving stare at the two's obvious contrition. The kids were acting like he was an Adult, the kind with authority over them. Heck, forget the authority bit, they were actually _listening_ to him for once. Even worse, they had powers and lacked the common sense to not advertise that fact out in public in front of strangers (like he had).

Well, even if West had contemplated ditching the dodo duo, he couldn't now. Kids lost on the streets of a major city like Central had a knack for disappearing. Unsavory sorts from the darkest corners of life would pay a pretty penny for kids like Irey and Jai. But young metas were plucked off the streets and out of families by organizations like the H.I.V.E. who saw only the powers not the child. Such organizations sought only to sate their unquenchable greed and lust for power by using children as pawns to build their empire. As annoying as the twins were, West couldn't abandon them now.

So the afternoon wore o,n and West's patience frayed further. After a brief yet serious lecture about keeping low profiles, the twins had made their peace with one another and looked to West now for leadership and entertainment. Irey had turned the full force of her attention and chatter on West as a result.

"You should help out," she said and peered earnestly up at west. Latching onto his arm like it was her personal security blanket and Uncle Beary tucked securely under her other arm, Irey trotted alongside him. " 'cause you'd be great at it."

So started a single-minded campaign, on Irey's part, of roughly coaxing West into considering the life of a superhero.

"No, I wouldn't," West replied.

So started a narrow-minded campaign, on West's part, of shooting down Irey's fanciful notions. He moved to shake off Irey. She gamely held on.

"Yes, you would," Irey said, and stared up at West with only pure belief in her eyes. "You'd be the _best_."

_You could be so much more…_

Stomach knotting at memory's echo, West stiffened.

"You can't change who you are or what you've done," he curtly told Irey. His voice danced between a terse growl and an acidic retort. "You can't change your past or what you are. If I was supposed to be a hero, I would have been one."

Bristling at West's sharp tone, Jai pulled Irey away from West and placed himself between two. The boy leveled his best glare on West, but failed to stop Irey from shouting back her response.

"You could be the greatest, fastest hero there ever was, except you're too scared to try."

Angry tears dripped down her cheeks even as Jai shoved her firmly behind him and away from a looming left West looming over two impudent ten year-olds who knew too much and could make him angrier then few others could. Fists squeezing, teeth clenching, and muscles tensing for action, West glared down at the two irksome, irritable intrusions. The lying, loathsome, liabilities!

The, the hunched together, huddled, frightened… they were just kids. Annoying, impertinent, and impudent, yeah, but Irey was shaking. Angry tears streaked down her cheeks and snot slid out her nose, yet she remained defiant. Jai's pathetic excuse of a glare from before had morphed into a darker glower. He looked to be a breath away from muscling up and smacking the punk teen who was picking on his sister.

He'd made Irey _cry_.

All remaining anger drained from West when faced with the reality that whoever he was or was becoming, he was starting to act like the sort of guy who made kids cry on purpose. The thought was unsettling, for of all the things West once was, he'd never been a bully. Sighing he ran a shaking hand through his hair and peered intently at the ground before looking at Jai and Irey.

"I'm sorry," he said.

The twins silent standoff could have lasted until the late afternoon sun dipped below the city skyline, but as stubborn as the two siblings were, some forces of nature were unconquerable. A stomach growled. West knew it wasn't him, but as he watched Irey and Jai exchange confused glances, they didn't seem to know either. Another loud gurgle left Jai glancing disbelievingly down at his belly. Irey touched her own stomach uncertainly.

"I'm hungry," the two chorused, and just like that the matter was forgotten.

Two expectant eyes peered up at West, and he searched their surroundings in vain for the nice lady supposed to retrieve the twins. The city moved on around the three politely ignoring them.

Scratching his head in thought, West mulled over the problem of food. He didn't have enough cash on hand to feed himself and two hungry and tired kids. He wasn't taking them home. As freaky as the twins were, he didn't want to take a risk and bring any tails back to his apartment, especially after all three's public display of powers throughout the day, which left him in a pickle. What to do; what to do.

Inspiration struck. Reaching into his pocket, West plucked out his wallet, pulled out a battered business card, and fished out one of his may disposable cell phones. Dialing the number he counted the rings, and a smile crept onto his face.

"Hey, Mrs. Iris? This is Rudy, Rudy Smith, from the Flash Museum. I was wondering if I could still accept your offer for dinner and bring some guests along?"

Twenty minutes later standing at the curb in front of a nondescript one story house, his charges behind him, West wondered what he had been thinking: dinner at a reporter's house with his chatty charges? He was nuts, practically insane, and hungry.

Before arriving he had grilled the twins. They had never heard of the H.I.V.E. or of See-more (or of a See-more) much less met any teen villain with a big green eye in the middle of his forehead. Jai had looked way to intrigued at the thought of meeting a guy with only one eye, and Irey too disgusted for the two to be lying. After checking that the kids hadn't encountered any other H.I.V.E. or HIVE 5 operatives, West had read the kids the riot act with the strictest instructions to _behave_.

Mrs. Iris didn't have to feed them, and they would be guests in her home. Therefore, there would be no arguments, no horseplay,and _no powers_. His name was Rudy Smith, and if the two mentioned the name Wally West or the fact that he also had powers too, then they would regret it. After a resigned chorus of a petulant _yes sir_, West grabbed a kid, one under each arm, and dashed off to the address Mrs. Iris had given him over the phone.

Now West stared up the front walk and scolded himself soundly for making plans on an empty stomach. Such plans were never his finest or well thought out. But Jai and Irey were already running up the front walk and ringing the doorbell wildly, and he was going to kill the little hellions before the night ended. Mrs. Iris opened the door with a welcoming smile and blinked down at the twins with mild confusion. Squaring his shoulders, West jogged up the walk (slowly) and let out a nervous laugh.

"Hey, Mrs. Iris, uh surprise?"

Irey and Jai ran inside right on cue, oohing appreciatively. West turned toward his hostess.

"Help me," he whispered causing Mrs. Iris to beam at him and step aside to let him in.

The tornado twins abandoned their romp around the room to slide in front of West and Mrs. Iris. They too looked expectantly at West. Clearing his throat, Wes gestured toward the twins.

"Mrs. Iris, these are Jai and Irey. I'm…watching them, temporarily. Irey, Jai, this is Mrs. Iris Allen.

The two chirped out a pair of hellos, but then Irey gained a zealous gleam in her eyes.

"But aren't you his," she began to ask as she pointed between Mrs. Iris and West.

Jai cut her off with an elbow to the side, a pair of raised eyebrows, and a hissed, "Irey." In response Irey stuck her tongue out at Jai but didn't continue. Instead her eyebrows furrowed, and she seemed stricken. West felt oddly relieved.

Jai spoke up. "Rudy's been watching us until our babysitter can pick us up. He saved our lives." All of West's relief evaporated. Jai paused and thoughtfully looked between West and Mrs. Iris then added. "Thank you for inviting us into your home."

Utterly charmed, Mrs. Iris smiled warmly at the two and stage whispered, "Rudy saved my purse once."

Irey perked up out of her mope and dashed over to Mrs. Iris.

"Really?" she asked, "Like, like a _hero_?"

West resisted a massive urge to face palm.

"It was pretty heroic," Mrs. Iris replied with a sly smile.

Face alight with glee, Irey opened her mouth only to have Jai slam his hand over it.

"We need to talk," he said to his sister, and dragged her over to the far side of the living area just out of earshot.

A furious whispered conversation commenced complete with pointing, wild hand gestures through the air, and the occasional noogie and hair pulling. Monkey faces were exchanged and the occasional burst of coherent sound would drift across the room for West and Mrs. Iris to pick up on.

"…need to keep quiet and lay low…"

"You're the one who said we should find trouble."

"Yeah, so we could find _Dad_."

"Well,…"

"…don't push it."

"They barely know each other."

"…place is weird and wrong, but…"

The two seemed to reach some sort of agreement, for the two broke apart only to have Irey run across the room and bury a surprised Mrs. Iris in a hug. Jai answered the unspoken question hovering in the air.

"She misses our aunt."

A heavy silence fell over the room, and its four occupants keenly felt an unspoken tension tying them together. After a final squeeze Irey detached her bone crushing grip from Mrs. Iris and asked about the restrooms. In a gentle tone Mrs. Iris gave her the directions.

As Irey left the room, Mrs. Iris softly told West, "Dinner may be a bit late. The Weather Master has traffic gridlocked which is delaying my husband somewhat. He said not to wait for him, but-,"

"It's fine," West said. "Thank you for having us."

"I'm sure he'll be here in a flash," Jai said and smiled at West and Mrs. Iris' simultaneous flinch.

Mrs. Iris and West both watched the boy's withdrawal with rapt attention. Once confident both children were out of earshot, West heaved out a relieved sigh but stiffened as he noticed Mrs. Iris' keen focus had shifted to him. An inquisitive gleam danced in her honey brown eyes as she studied West. A knowing smile adorned her face as an unmentioned amusement fueled its growth, and the crinkle of fine laugh lines in the corner of her eyes grew.

"So, what did you need help with?" she asked. At her question a painful knot of fear loosened, and a strange ease passed between the two. A compelling mix of familiarity and safety settled over them and proved tempting enough for West's lips to loosen and let a judiciously edited story of the afternoon tumble out of his mouth.

How he'd been bored and hunting around the town for entertainment, or the Flash, or both. Finding Captain Boomerang and grabbing the twins out of danger. Being charged with the kids' safety and his inability to get a straight answer out of Irey or Jai about their family.

"Some 'Nice Lady' is supposed to magically appear and take them home," he said. "They're hiding something, but they won't tell me what, and Blood forbid they actually listen to me. I can't leave them alone or with strangers, and I have no idea what to do," he finished.

Leaning closer across the table, Iris said, "Rudy, breath. Your words are starting to run together."

While Rudy indulged in the advised deep breathes, Mrs. Iris rose and crossed the kitchen to check the pots on the stove-top.

"I made spaghettis and meatballs," she said between lifting lids, peering at the contents. "First, we'll eat. Then once my husband returns, we'll talk about all our options. Between my contacts and his knowledge, we'll help both of you and Irey and Jai."

At West's puzzled look, Iris paused tossing a salad to add, "Barry works for the Central City PD."

"Does he now?" he murmured. A thread of unease wove through West's stomach.

Nodding Mrs. Iris continued, "Until then I have a checkerboard and some old board games lying around. Maybe some laughter and fun will help the kids relax enough to trust us. They could still be scared from earlier."

Sighing, West let loose a rather pathetic pout while he rehearsed a few lines in his head.

"_Well, gee, Mrs. Iris, I know I should have taken them to the police so child services could help out, but…"_

"_But THE Flash asked Me to find their family. I Promised, gave my Word. It was The FLASH!" and as his loyal fanboy I would do anything that he asked of me, scouts' honor. Because loyal Flash fanboys aren't juvenile delinquents trying to stay on the right side of the law, for once._

"_Superpowers?! Nay, Mrs. Iris, I do protest. Those children didn't exhibit unnatural or otherworldly abilities. I say thee nay; wait, why are you calling the Justice League?"_

Like that would work. Clearing his head of anymore nonsense, West glance around the living room. In the kitchen Mrs. Iris was using her cell phone, probably checking Namus for his or the twins' faces. He could hear the faint murmur of Jai and Irey down the hall, and he sat alone at the kitchen table in a chair alone by himself like an alone person.

Yeesh, bored much?

Slouching down in his seat all the happy feelings and warm fuzzies which had prompted West to share his plight with Mrs. Iris vanished. Reality set in. He barely knew this lady, and she was a reporter by Blood's red eyes. The kids knew more than they should and were acting just plan _odd_, so this was definitely wasn't such a good idea.

Of course, Mrs. Iris chose that moment to appear, salad bowl in hand, and curiosity glimmering just as Jai and Irey reappeared from washing up. Brilliant, all four of them in the same room, perfect. To make matters worse, the front door opened, closed, and a loud, "Honey, I'm home" rang out across the house.

West froze. He _knew_ that voice, and it wasn't the voice of a crazed axe murderer from some old horror movie. He'd heard that voice before, and while he tried to place a face to the voice, a windswept Mr. Allen walked in tugging a blue tie loose from his neck. He froze mid tug. Blond eyebrows lifted at the sight of a strange, punk teen with two unfamiliar children haunting his living room and kitchen.

West blanched. A mental chant of ohcrapohcrapohcrap started circling around his thoughts at about, oh, _lightspeed_. This was it. His cover was blown. Blond police scientist guy was Mr. Allen aka law enforcement aka the guy he'd super sped away from back during the Brotherhood incident, and he needed to grab Jai and Irey and run.

The redhead equals speedster equals H.I.V.E. agent equals criminal equals pickpocket who out ran (fine out planned) the Flash two to three-ish years ago situation was not good, very bad, very not good.

"Hello."

_Run!_

"I don't think I officially introduced myself the last time we met."

_What are you doing, Kid? Don't take his hand, West. Don't shake it…are you nuts?_

"I'm Barry Allen," the blond man said.

West managed to whimper out a faint, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

"Please, just call me Barry."

Oh, well, how informal of him. Dropping his limp hand, West nodded, weaved around Mrs. Iris concerned face, and caught the looks Mr. and Mrs. Allen gave each other.

"I…need some air," he croaked out and dashed out the front door, skidded to a halt out the end of the front walk, and mentally freaked out. He held himself completely still knowing if he didn't keep his breathing even and didn't restrain all his energy with every ounce of control he had, once he started running he wouldn't _stop_.

He needed to leave, to get out of there, now. Run to his Keystone drop, grab a fake i.d. and his costume and leave town, now. But…

Turning back to the house West caught four faces pulling away from the front windows. Despite the irksome fact of having an audience, West caught the tops of red and black mops of hair, and something in him paused. Annoying, tight-lipped, impertinent whelps or not, he couldn't abandon Irey or Jai. Like it or now he was responsible for them until further notice. The fact was grating and required more of West then he wanted to give, but he couldn't escape his responsibility to them.

Letting out a deep breath, West straightened his spine, set his shoulders and marched back up the walk to the house. First dinner, then he'd runoff to Timbuktu with the twins. He could handle that.

Dinner went as well as could be expected. The twins were, surprisingly, on their best behavior. Their table manners proved nearly flawless, though the pair seemed unusually restless. The two exchanged shifty glances between themselves and look back and forth between West and the Allens.

Out of the five at the dinner table, West was the quietest. He ate quickly, but not _too_ quickly, and helped himself to seconds, but not thirds, and while he ate a generous amount of food, he didn't eat _too_ much. No reason to give his hosts any notion that he was more than a growing teenage guy. He didn't speak beyond please passes, thank yous, and the meal is wonderful, and other niceties. And if he didn't say much besides that? Well, he was eating, and it was rude to talk with food in his mouth.

The underlying tension from before had resurfaced with Mr. Allen's return home. Unlike before, Mrs. Iris' presence and support didn't bring any comfort or calming balm to ease the tension. If anything Mr. Allen's (though really, Rudy, you can call me Barry (uh, _yeah_, right, Mr. _Allen_)) presence electrified the tension to new levels. West watched Mr. Allen like a hawk between bites and sips of water. He watched every blink, every flicker in Mr. Allen's gaze, and managed to avoid in a rather halting conversation on physics. Any mention of recent current events Mr. or Mrs. Allen's work, the Flash, or the twins was met with monosyllabic hums and noncommittal answers.

Mr. Allen seemed slightly mystified by West's behavior, but oddly determined to talk despite West's passive hostility. Mrs. Iris watched the continued attempt at verbal communication and successful deflection with the smallest of amused smiles quirking at her lips. West smothered a scowl and shoved spaghetti into his mouth. If the lady wasn't such a good cook he and the twins would be long gone. Stupid reporter.

The tentative peace broke when the ragged Beary was pulled out by Irey after the dinner dishes had been washed and loaded into the dishwasher. Now settled in the living area, Irey played around with her souvenir from the day until Mrs. Iris' curiosity got the better of her.

"What do you have there, sweetie?" Mrs. Iris asked coming to sit down beside Irey. With a calculating smile, Irey hugged the stuffed animal to her chest and batted her green eyes.

"This is Uncle Beary," she chirped. Holding the bear out in front of her, she canted her head to the side and frowned thoughtfully at her plush companion. "Although, I've been thinking about calling him Bart."

"Bart?" Mr. Allen echoed as he came to sit down on a nearby chair in the living area. Irey nodded energetically.

"Bart the Bear!" she cheered. "After my cousin."

"Bartholomew," Jai added.

West cringed. Who knew there was a name worse than Wallace floating around? Turning back to Mrs. Iris with another charming smile, Irey happily continued. "_The_ _Flash_ gave Bart to me."

A secretive smile spread across Mrs. Iris' face. "Did he now?" she purred and raised her gaze at a suddenly sheepish Mr. Allen. "How kind of him."

Irey happily agreed, and she scooted closer to her hostess.

"Yeah, she got it after _Rudy_ saved us from blowing up," Jai chimed in, a deceptively innocent expression on his face.

West scowled, deeply.

"It was so heroic," Irey immediately followed up and wilted against Mrs. Iris with a dreamy sigh. "We were looking for our Dad and almost stepped on a boomerang. He _saved us_."

Before the two could senselessly sing his praises or give away anymore of his secrets, West interrupted.

"I pulled you two off the road before you became road kill. That was common decency not heroics."

"I'm not a hero," he didn't say.

"It was still brave."

West froze.

Mr. Allen had that look on his face again, the probing intensity from dinner as if he could see past West's sullen façade to the truth beneath. As if he was weighing and measuring West's true worth.

"It was also foolish. That boomerang could have gone off at any moment, but you ran out and pulled these two out of harm's way and saved their lives," he continued.

"From their stupidity," West spat out as he straightened out of a slouch. Arms crossed against his chest, he gazed just as fiercely back at Mr. Allen. Hackles raised he followed with, "I'm not some _hero_."

"You could be," Jai said from his perch on the couch.

Grinding his teeth at the simple belief shining at him from Jai's brown eyes, West opened his mouth to speak. The doorbell rang.

Just like that the building tension and climbing tempers collapsed. West's defense (acidic) reply deflated, and he slouched back into the sofa glowering at empty air as Mrs. Iris rose and walked out of sight. The front door quietly creaked open, and the muffled voices of Mrs. Iris and the door ringer drifted into the living area. Slouched at the end of the couch seated closest to the hall that lead to the front door, West managed to catch a promising phrase.

"I'm here for Jai and Iris West."

For a moment the four remaining occupants in the living room exchanged sharp glances. Jai and Irey bolted for the door. West followed at a slightly slower speed, and Mr. Allen slowly followed after them. Once the twins laid eyes on a slightly flummoxed Mrs. Iris and her caller, Irey squealed in delight.

"It's the nice lady!"

Jai threw his hands up in the air. "Well, thank Superman. Now we can go home to Mom and Dad."

"They've been very worried about you," the nice lady scolded from the door step.

Peering suspiciously at the surprisingly real Nice Lady, West sized the newcomer up. She was beautiful. Riotous crimson curls strained to break free of the restraining clip leaving a rosy face with wide brown eyes on display. Her most captivating feature was her eyes, and her eyes betrayed her. Gold sparks shined like stardust in the depths of her eyes, but she had old eyes weighted with the experience of someone far older then the lady appeared. She seemed timeless almost, a strange mix of youth and age (until you looked at her clothes).

Aviator goggles dangled about the nice lady's neck over a loose button up shirt. A brown wool-lined leather jacket completed the Amelia Earheart-esque look, but the lady also wore curve hugging riding pants and black riding boots. Yet despite her…whimsical outfit (he'd seen worse at the H.I.V.E. or on Robin) she seemed genuinely kind.

"It's time to leave," the nice lady announced.

Frowning, West stepped between the twins and Miss Space Cowgirl.

"I'm sorry, but you are?" he asked.

The lady dimpled and extended a hand. "Cassandra."

Warily excepting the hand, West asked, "Cassandra-,"

"Just Cassandra," she replied.

"Uh-huh," West said, skepticism dripping from his tone. "You're their babysitter?"

Cassandra nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but West cut her off.

"Where were you?" he asked. "Where have you been, and why did you let these two run amok in Central City, alone, while the Flash faced off against one of his Rogues?"

A glint of amusement replaced the glitter of gold in Cassandra's eyes as she calmly returned West's stare. She seemed immune or unconcerned with both the Allen's equally interested expressions.

"I have been searching for them all afternoon, as have their parents." Jai and Irey seemed to shrink at this statement. "I was only able to locate them recently, and believe me, Mr. Smith, no effort was spared to locate these two in order to see them home safely." A smile quirked on Cassandra's lips. "They have quite the search party looking for them at home."

If the twins had looked chastised before, the looks of guilt and dread of the upcoming reunion with their family put their previous contriteness to shame.

"But why were they alone?" West pressed.

"They wandered off," Cassandra replied then arched an eyebrow at West. "After looking after them for the afternoon surely you can appreciate how slippery the two are."

Taking a step back West looked from Cassandra (Just Cassandra) to the twins then to the Allens. Mr. Allen seemed to pick up on his cue, for he walked over, introduced himself, and managed to casually ask for Cassandra's identification. Leaving the Allen's to grill their caller West squatted down to eye level with the twins.

"So, she's the nice lady," he asked still unsatisfied with Cassandra's explanations. Both nodded vigorously. "You're sure?" he asked. "And you two really ran off?"

You weren't kidnapped and held against your will, and the nice lady isn't some evil organizations recruitment agent, remained unsaid.

Jai spoke first.

"We were at the park with our parents and some friends of our family when we…kind of wandered off."

Irey jumped in, "We got lost, then we ran into her. She tried to take us back, but we thought she wasn't. So we ran to where we thought the park was, but…" she trailed off.

"We got more lost," Jai finished.

"But then you found us, and now she's going to take us home."

"You're sure?"

Both nodded. "She was going to do it before,"

"And Mom and Dad are probably really worried."

Sighing West ruffled their hair before standing. He didn't like this, but the twins weren't afraid of her, and however uncanny Just Cassandra seemed his gut told West she would do what she said. "If she gives you guys any trouble or if you get lost again," he sternly lectured, "then find me, ok?"

For a moment Jai and Irey stared up at him in mute astonishment, and then the two launched themselves at West in a tag team hug. West promptly toppled over.

"Gah," he hissed. "Air!"

The two squeezed tighter before finally letting go. Tugging at West's sleeve, Irey leveled him with a piercing watery stare as she offered up Bart the bear to him.

"Don't be scared," she said as West hesitantly took her offering. "You just need to push yourself a bit."

Leaving Bart with West, Irey trotted over to give both of the Allens farewell hugs, than attached herself to Cassandra's hand. For a moment Jai stared at the floor before he finally looked at West.

"You're _weird_, but" he shrugged. "You should stick around with the Allens. They seem really nice."

Having said his piece Jai followed Irey over to Cassandra. Oddly choked up West cleared his throat and stared at the two kids. For all the shenanigans the little hooligans put him through, they'd managed to carve out a soft spot during their stay. Seemingly satisfied with whatever credentials or authentication the two had wrestled out of Cassandra during the mini inquisition, the Allens came to stand beside West.

Opening the front door to a much darker night then before Cassandra gestured for Irey and Jai to enter the modest minivan parked at the end of the front walk. A flicker of challenge exchanged between the siblings and both raced each other to the car in an impromptu game of tag before disappearing into the front seat. Cassandra lingered for a moment just off the front steps.

"Good night Mr. and Mrs. Allen. It was a pleasure meeting you," Cassandra said as she shook the couple's hands once more. Mrs. Iris gave Cassandra a sweet smile and no nonsense, "Make sure the kids get home safely to their parents."

Or I will hunt you down and sic the police force, feds, and all other manner of contacts I have on you, West finished in his head. The thought left him half smiling. For a moment Mr. Allen seemed akin to a sleeping dragon as he bid a similar farewell to Cassandra. As if he believed her able to do as she said, but wouldn't hesitate to personally ensure all happened as it should and all expressed in the politest three sentences West had heard to date.

Unlike his hosts West was far less subtle and polite to Cassandra. Nodding his head to the minivan he said, "If anything keeps Jai and Irey separated from their family while they are in your hands, I will hold you responsible."

A catlike smile spread across Cassandra's face and amusement glimmered in her eyes.

"Is that a promise or a threat?" she bantered and some internal forced gather changing her from a young woman and babysitter to something more, like a storm drawing closer from a distance, growing and building strength. It lent her a new confidence and strength.

Undeterred by her show of power West promised, "I will find you."

The threatening presence scattered to the winds as Cassandra beamed approvingly at West, as if he had passed some unknown test.

"You are more than you seem," she praised, and the golden sparks from before filled her eyes. "You have heart and strength. Perhaps it will be enough."

Tossing her hair playfully, Cassandra said, "As for finding me, I'm sure you'll find a way when the time comes."

With a final secretive smile, she pulled the aviator goggles up over her eyes, walked down the walk, and climbed through the same door as the twins. The headlights blinked to life along with the roar of the engine, and the minivan drove off taking Jai and Irey and the nice lady with it. West tracked the cars path ready to overtake the vehicle if necessary, but an underlying calm checked his anxiety.

A soft hand dropped onto his shoulder. After giving the disappearing car a last serious assessing stare, West craned his head to meet Mrs. Iris' eyes. Her pleased smile and warm words helped quiet the lingering protectiveness.

"You did good, kiddo."

Right, back to crisis number two. Cracking a toothy grin, West managed not to tense up at his new moniker.

"I hate riddles," he said instead. "Too much mystery. Why can't people say what they mean without the double meanings and the need to read between the lines?"

Casually shaking off her hand, West slipped back into character as he assessed his two new threats, the Allens. He rambled on.

"People should say what they mean, and mean what they say." Doctor Suess much, hypocrite? "Anyway, I need to go. Dinner was lovely. Thank you for having me."

The twins were safe and going home. He needed to go too. West's hasty retreat was cut off by the jingle of car keys.

"Rudy, do you need a ride home?" Mr. Allen asked.

"That's not necessary," West hedged even as he analyzed the subtle emphasis Mr. Allen had put on his cover's name. Mrs. Iris frowned at him with genuine concern.

"It's not safe for you to be walking anywhere at this time of night."

Which was somewhere between sunset and nine pm, but hey, who was counting?

"I wouldn't want to trouble you," West began, but obviously the Allens had planned for this.

Moving in perfect sync Mr. Allen insisted that giving him a ride was no trouble at all. In fact he wanted to give West a ride. Mrs. Iris leveled another of her no nonsense looks on West and rushed inside to pack up some leftovers for him to take home (what leftovers, the meal was demolished). She _insisted_ it was no trouble at all. Mr. Allen thought that was a _great idea_ and drew West aside to talk sports and pin him in one place long enough for Mrs. Iris to grab her mysterious leftovers.

The two had timed their efforts so closely and, well, so politely that West was left stuck between accepting their hospitality and good will and leaving himself open for discovery or to come off as a rude, suspicious brute for refusing such good intentioned folk. He was grudgingly impressed but twitchy. He flinched at every car which drove past and any late night dog walkers passing by half convinced a SWAT team or even the Flash was about to descend and arrest him. If Mr. Allen noticed West's jitters, then he didn't remark on it. He instead asked West about his impression of the Flash Museum, if he had managed to tour Star Labs, and other small talk. He also managed to convey that really, he and Iris didn't mind if he, Rudy, wanted to call them Barry and Iris.

A small eternity later, Mrs. Iris appeared with the leftovers. Apparently, she'd made a little extra. Said extras almost left West whimpering with pleasure as he drooled over the enormous pan of lasagna Mrs. Iris foisted on him. His stomach quickly reminded West it was hungry for a real dinner this time, not the snacks he'd filled it with earlier.

Then West was being herded into a car and had to suffer through the longest car ride of his life as Mr. Allen drove him to one of West's (three) safe houses (in Central). West spent the entire ride with a thumb on his seat belt latch and his eyes scanning the roads for anything out of the ordinary (like ambushes or police barricades). But the ride proved uneventful, and the car pulled up outside of West's safe house unmolested.

Summoning up the vestiges of his cover and manners West cleared his throat. "Well, uh, thank you, again, for, uh, having me," he said. Clearing his dry throat West managed to stabilize his shaky voice. "Your wife, she's a very nice lady, good cook, very kind. I..uh, yeah, thanks."

He silently squirmed and curled his fingers into fists. He needed to get out of here, but he couldn't openly blow his cover now of all times. What if this was all some elaborate trap?

Hands resting on the steering wheel, Mr. Allen leveled a surprisingly kind smile at West.

(What was it about this couple and smiling?)

"She is," he agreed and smiled at some fond memory. "She also has good judgment and an annoying tendency to be right about many things."

West found himself squirming again under the sudden presence in Mr. Allen's expression. That guy wasn't just some cop or some scientist. He, like Cassandra was something else, something more, and both liked speaking in riddles far too much.

Unlocking the car doors, Mr. Allen gave West final parting words.

"Rudy, if you need help, someone to talk to, another home cooked meal, or just someone to kill time with, you can come to me or Iris. We won't mind."

And West believed him.

* * *

Prompt: Darker


	84. Entr'acte

**A/N 2-22-13:** Guys, I did it. I'm back. More details to come on the author page. Enjoy the angst.

* * *

Chapter 84: Entr'acte

Boredom knew no bounds. Idleness ate at West. One day dragged on and on blurred into the next. West hated it.

He tried staying busy. He did. At this point he had memorized all the exhibits and displays in the Flash Museum, and was now a flagged security threat at Star Labs. He may have gone on the tours, daily, and accidentally, on purpose, gotten lost and strayed into areas restricted to the public, daily. He also may have played around with a few chemicals and expensive equipment in a few labs, and been banned.

The library proved an endless source of reading material, but West could only stay cooped up indoors for so long. A fanboy could only track the Flash so many times before the police force, the news, and the Flash began to catch on, lose their patience and notice him. If it hadn't been for the nightly conversations with Jinx, then West would be both bored and starved for meaningful human interaction. West loved talking to Jinx, but he needed someone to talk to during the day.

Much like when West was hungry, he didn't make the best decisions when bored. So when the choice lay between returning a sparkling clean lasagna pan or robbing the biggest bank in the tri-state area for laughs and a break in monotony, West chose to return the lasagna pan. Even if that meant entering the Picture New's bullpen.

Slipping into the newspaper's building wasn't a problem. West zipped inside, snagged a visitor's badge, and all without a stray breeze disturbing the receptionist or appearing on camera. Glass pan secure in his hands, West left the elevator and crossed the buzzing room with an unnatural calm. Well, he looked calm, but his heart had kicked into overdrive, and small drops of sweat trickled down his neck. An entire room of reporters dedicated to sniffing out stories and ferreting up facts. The biggest story of their careers walked through their midst, and they didn't have a clue.

West spared a moment to congratulate himself for wearing normal clothes: a plain yellow t-shirt under a white button up, jeans, and bright red converses (fine, mostly normal). No one spared him a second glance, bright red hair aside, but that didn't mean West returned the favor.

"It's a blur," a reporter said. He squinted at the computer screen in front of him and rubbed his index finger across a rather impressive beak. Tapping on the glass, Hook Nose sent an admonishing glance at the even younger photographer hovering beside him.

"It's the Flash," Hook Nose deadpanned.

"No, it's not."

Pointing at the screen, Camera Guy pointed at various landmarks. "Using mainly math and right triangles, I found that our blur is between five-six and five-eight. Flash is five-ten and witnessed at the river when _this_ guy snatched those kids out of the way."

Pausing behind Hook Nose and Camera Guy, West paled.

Camera Guy clicked to two different photos on screen and pointed to the time stamp. The before and after blurred pictures clearly showed two children, a boy and girl, running toward a stray boomerang, the Before, and vanish replaced by the blur.

"The boomerang explodes down the street away from bystanders, and the two kids vanished in a _flash_," Camera Guy said. "Central City has a new hero."

Zooming in closer on the blur, a triumphant grin spread across camera guy's face. Hook Nose hemmed and tilted his head.

"So you think some Flash kid is running around-"

"_Kid_ Flash, catchy name, yeah?"

"-Central City helping the Flash?" Hook Nose shook his head. "Where did he come from? Why haven't we seen him, or her, before? No, this is all shock, no substance.

"And shouldn't it be Teen Flash? You did say he, or she, was five-seven, five-eight-ish?"

West drifted off merging back into the currents of the bullpen's traffic much paler now then when he had first walked. At his entrance Mrs. Iris looked up in surprise. He handed her the lasagna pan and drifted to peer out her office window. She didn't question his presence which worked for West. He liked staring out her window and watched the traffic for long time.

…

Unfortunately, staring outside Mrs. Iris's office window for all eternity didn't quell the chaos unfolding around West. Mrs. Iris had a beat to work and held no qualms talking West into shadowing her. West trailed behind with only mildest coaxing on Mrs. Iris's part. Part of him attended to Mrs. Iris' activity and routine, and the other drifted back to potential front page headlines and safe house locations.

Mrs. Iris ended up dragging him to the crime scene complete with a dead body. Mr. Allen was there examining the scene and the body, but aside for a lift of his eyebrows and a nod of to Iris, he focused on his work. Mrs. Iris also switched into reporter mode asking police officers on scene about the murder and waiting for the head officer's statement all while tapping her pen against a handy memo pad. Uncaring of any jostling or the quiet mutters around him, West melted into the crowd.

The corpse had been shot and dead for a while, head thrown back and long hair scattered across the concrete and blood pooling in the pavement cracks. Sightless eyes, stiff limbs, and West shrugged off any curiosity. It was just another murder carried out by another ordinary human with a gun. Whether the man on the ground was a hero, villain, innocent, or sinner, West didn't care. The man's story had ended, and the homicide detectives and the forensics department had to puzzle out why. For West, he had seen worse at the H.I.V.E. where all students learned there were worse fates then death, and how to weave such endings.

Blood red converses scuffed against the concrete. West meandered along to an empty park bench. Slumping down into the cool metal curves, West threw his head back to look up at the sky. Thunderheads loomed approaching from a distance, but overhead a robin's egg blue sky stretched out above him, cheerful and welcoming.

He should probably leave Central and hang out in Keystone for a few days, weeks, months. Better yet he should jump states or even countries. he'd heard Guam was especially nice this time of year.

He knew there would be consequences for helping the twins in a thoughtless whim of altruism, but for there to actually be proof of a second speedster in Central City. That information was dangerous. Dangerous enough to warrant a relocation or strike a at Camera Guy's computer files. West dismissed the idea. Good reporters triplicated their backups, notes, hard copies, and memory cards. He didn't have the time or will to track down any digital or physical copies of those pictures. Taking refuge in audacity and hiding out in Central City was ending. He needed to pack up and move out.

Despite his boredom, West didn't want to go. Finding a legal means of employment with the equivalent of a high school diploma meant minimum wage aka a slow and torturous descent into insanity. Part of hiding meant staying hidden and not breaking cover, so he couldn't visit any of his old haunts or favorite people.

Idly turning over the idea of volunteering somewhere or looking for an internship, West craned his neck to look over the police line. Perhaps an in-depth look into law enforcement? That would be a riot. Dismissing the idea, West's eyes settled on the Allens. Mrs. Iris had her work face on, and Mr. Allen had moved to study the surrounding scene.

Heart pounding, West drew in a deep breath and tore his gaze away from the couple. Hands clenching his knees, West scowled at his anxiety. He wasn't afraid of them, and he wasn't intimidated. He could leave both in his dust without looking back.

Yet familiar words ran across his thoughts. Heartfelt and impressed deeply into his memory.

_You should stick around with the Allens. They seem really nice._

_Don't be scared._

Typical, Jai and Irey found new ways to annoy him even after they'd returned home.

The Allens, the welcoming, nurturing Allens. On the walk over Mrs. Iris managed to extract a promise for West to come over Friday night for dinner followed by a Movie and Popcorn Night with her and Mr. Allen. All by using kind smiles, a warm tone, and a gleam of determination in her eyes while she dangled the carrot of free, mostly home cooked food. Considering West hadn't eaten real home cooked food in about five years, yeah, he'd fallen for the bait like a hungry, gullible noob. So dinner at the Allens, the couple who may or may not know he was the new speedster running around Central. Just another reason to abandon ship and relocate out of the state, really.

And yet…

What if they didn't care? What if, hypothetically, the Allens knew everything? The Rudy = Kid = speedster = former H.I.V.E. agent. But didn't care? No ulterior motives, no traps, but all the kindness and hospitality was because it was the right thing to do? Maybe?

West found himself chuckling at the very idea of the Allens knowing and not caring about his past. What a simple world it must be to have people interested in you because they cared, and not because you were a useful tool or necessary ally.

Leaning back into the bench, West released a pent up breath. A fond smile crept onto his face banishing away any lingering darkness. He seemed to smile more often lately. This usually occurred when he thought of the person behind his smile. Life's struggles, troubles and worries seemed to fade with the upwelling of fondness and happiness which accompanied such thoughts.

He hadn't talked with Jinx since before the twins appeared. Jinx had been traveling, but when they last spoke she had been annoyed with his moping around Central and pushed him to quit whining and do something . Fighting down the impulse to just run to the safe house where he stored his hand mirror, West wallowed in his giddiness. Undercover or not, Jinx could weigh in on this. Time for a second opinion.

…

West sucked in a startled breath when Jinx picked up her hand mirror. He gaped at her puzzled expression focusing instead on her brown hair and large doe, brown eyes. Gold streaks shimmered in her dyed locks. Bare throat, bare shoulders, oh look, her collarbones, and a gleam of golden jewelry winked in her ears.

"Jinx."

"Nicole," she said with a pedantic air. "Nicole Zatara." Brown eyebrows scrunched together. "I did mention I was traveling, yes?"

West nodded. His eyes darted around the mirror's surface trying to gleam any details behind _Nicole._

"Are you on a date?" His heart sunk at the thought.

"Yes and no," Jinx said. "Zee was asked to perform at a gala, a Wayne charity in Gotham. She dragged me along and stuffed me into formal wear."

"Oh."

Jinx grimaced. The scene rocked behind her as she moved away from her previous niche. "But, you see, Bruce Wayne and Zee go back, way back. They were childhood friends, and uh, well, Mr. Wayne has this ward, Richard."

West's heart sunk anew.

"Ah, so you're on a date with _him_ then."

"It's a pity date. Completely platonic." Jinx said. "Dick and I, it's not at all like that. He's actually quite smitten with this other girl, who's not me, but she couldn't make it, and I was going anyway, so we decided to fend off the socialites together. Promise."

West blinked. "So, you and Dick are terrorizing Gotham's elite?"

A toothy grin crossed Jinx's face. "Who me?"

She laughed. A thoughtful smile tamed her previous wildness. "It's a Wayne function masquerade, and it's Gotham. Some crime lord or opportunistic criminals will crash the party, try to rob us blind, hold us for ransom, or kidnap a few of us."

West chuckled, focusing on his amusement over the small side which salivated over the prospective mark. "So, you and Zatanna are waiting in the wings to stop any attempts. Nice."

"And, you know, it's Gotham." Jinx's eyes gleamed.

For the nth time, West reminded himself Jinx's oldest friend was Robin, former member of Gotham City's own Dynamic Duo, Batman and Robin. Why had he never made the Batman-Jinx connection before?

"So, what did you want to talk about, West?"

And because, she's Jinx, private, and courteous, West didn't worry about being overheard. So everything, well a judiciously edited everything, spilled out. His run-ins with the Allens. The judiciously edited story about the two kids who knew him and believed in him, and the Allens' subsequent fawning over him.

"So, you want a judgment call on the Allens."

Forehead wrinkled in thought, her free hand drummed against her cheek.

"It's too good to be true," West said. "They're being far too nice to some random kid they both ran into. For all they know I could be a con-artist. They shouldn't trust me or be…" He waved his hand through the air.

"Plus, Iris Allen's a reporter, and the rumor mill spun up after you grabbed those two kids. But no breaking news about a second speedster running around, and Mr. Allen works with the police."

Lips pursed Jinx chased the thoughts around her head, manicured nails clicking off the marble.

"If they were going to blow your cover, then they would have," she said. "But they're people too, West."

West shifted the mirror to his opposite hand.

"I don't think that's what's really bothering you. You're stagnating."

"What are you talking about?"

Jinx pinned him with a shrewd look.

"Yeah, you aren't breaking any laws and stayed undercover, but you aren't doing anything with yourself. You're—,"

"Stagnating," West said.

Jinx nodded, and West fiddled with the hand mirror. She was right. The boredom, cabin fever, and wallowing, stagnation explained everything.

"I'm supposed to be hiding. A new life off everyone's radar."

"You're not connected to anything. Yeah, you're stalking the Flash, congrats, but you don't have a purpose or friends."

"You're my friend."

The muscles around Jinx's eyes twitched, and West smothered a smile. She'd promised not to roll her eyes at him anymore, and boy, did he make her work to keep that promise.

"Join a club, enroll in classes at a community college, or join an underwater basket weaving class. If you want to beat your boredom and not do something incredibly stupid because you're so bored, then find something to do!"

Taking a deep breath, Jinx regained her calm. "You're in limbo, West. If you don't find some way to move forward, then you're going to slip back into the H.I.V.E. mindset. You'll regress."

Another deep breath and quiet intent schooled Jinx's features. "Which is why I think you should get to know the Allens better."

"What?!"

"Despite the risks-"

"Iris is a reporter."

"-you need connections, people-"

"Mr. Allen works for the _police_."

"-in your life. People who can keep you on track-"

"They have all the resources and connections to blow me out of the water."

"-and have your back-"

"And they know _far_ too much already."

"Someone who isn't halfway across the country, and who can talk to you face to face."

"Hanging around them is tempting fate. Nothing will stay secret around those two."

"Tough," Jinx said. For a moment the two stared at each other neither backing down. Ignoring the briefest pangs of guilt, West continued frowning at the glass.

"You should probably get back to your date."

Jinx looked heavenwards with a frown. West supposed she used pleaded with the stars to pardon him for his immaturity and possibly to find a brain transplant.

"It's not a date." She pinned West with another of her sharp looks. "You're drifting, West. You need something to anchor you."

The faint sound of shattering glass combined with high-pitched screams and bursts of gunfire pierced the silence between them. Jinx's brown eyes glinted and sparks of pink began bleeding through. Painted red lips curved into a grimace then spread into a Cheshire smile, all dazzle no substance.

"Sorry West, gotta go. " Frowning at him, Jinx gave West her sternest, warning look, like she could feel the regret coiling in his gut. "Stay in Central, look up the Allens, and don't be an idiot. Zee's in the other room. I'll be fine."

"I'm sorry."

The mirror's reflection jolted and bobbed with Jinx's hurried movements. Jinx chuckled her acceptance of his apology and spared him a gentler smile. "I'll be fine, West."

"Gotham," he said while fighting the itch to cross state lines and crash whatever hotel she could be at. "_Gotham_. The Joker, Two-face, The Penguin, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Clayface, the Alligator." He rattled off every nightmarish legend of his studies, blood running cold at the stats he had memorized on Gotham's crime lords and colorful underworld.

Jinx countered.

"The HIVE 5, all six of you, Slade, Mumbo, _Madame Rouge_, the Brotherhood of freaking Evil. I'll be fine, West. It's Gotham. Zee's next door, Robin's in town, and the Batman is partial to haunting any Wayne functions in town because of the high profile and high risk status. Catcha later."

Scowling, West conceded the point. Gritting his teeth, West glared at his reflection with enough force to cause the glass to shiver in his hands. Plopping onto his cot, West leveled his death glare at the cracked ceiling tiles and mold stains above his head.

"You should just save yourself."

Grabbing the TV remote he started flipping through the news channels waiting for the breaking news.

The days following the Gotham's hostage crisis West lived under a cloud of anger. The Dynamic Duo reappeared alongside fellow heroes Zatanna, Mistress of Magic, and the Honorary Teen Titan, Jinx. The poor thieves and would be kidnappers hadn't known what hit them. Wild speculation circulated the gossip columns of a spark of romance between teammates Jinx and Robin. After all, the two both visited Gotham at the same time from Jump City, and the two seemed very familiar with each other.

The slow anger simmered in his gut. If Jinx hadn't sworn on her magic, honor, and Honorary Titan membership that Robin was completely, hilariously, and sickeningly smitten with Starfire, well, West may or may not have planned to break cover and talk things out with Jinx. In person. But for now he remained in Central in the shadows and under the radar. And it burned.

A firm tug at his sleeve jerked West out of his thoughts and back to his surroundings. Watery gray eyes set into a diminutive, wrinkled frame snared West.

"Young man," the elderly lady said. "Would you help me?"

West followed the quivering finger from fingertip and up into a large, maple tree. Leaves, branches, more leaves, and a small orange and black fuzzball.

"You've got to be kidding me."

But looking between the four-legged critter curled around a branch and back at the old lady and her hand wringing, West knew she did not kid.

"I can't…"

A sniffle.

"You can't seriously…"

A pitiful meow.

"…expect me…"

A chocked sob.

"Fine."

Shimmying up the tree proved easy. Crawling away from the trunk to the tabby also, easy. Prying the thrice-cursed puffball off the twice forsaken branch and avoiding its sharp claws proved more difficult. West ended up scruffing the yowling she-devil and breathed out a relieved sigh at the cat's limp form.

Down on the ground the granny swept Fluffles into a bone crushing hug. The cat melted, purring, and butting its head against its owner.

West looked on the scene, deemed it good, and turned to leave. Good riddance to all the evil cats out there.

"Excuse me, young man."

West tensed, and his shoulders creeped upwards toward his ears.

"Would you help me? Please?"

_Here we go again._

Someone, somewhere planned this. They hacked his past conversations with Jinx and devised the best way to draw out his altruism. Or they planted a hidden camera somewhere. That could only explain West's afternoon.

Mrs. Floods' watery gray eyes and quavering voice plucked at West's heart strings and conscience. He'd never been so masterfully outmaneuvered or incapable of saying no.

After the Tabby, Mrs. Flood needed help crossing Main Street and carrying Fluffles' cage to the groomers. During the grooming appointment, Mrs. Flood needed help shopping and carrying her groceries home, and then Fluffles needed to be picked up and taken home. Apparently these circumstances required an escort since Mrs. Flood's back had been acting up since that morning with the changing weather fronts. And who better then the kind boy who helped reunite the demon cat with the cat lady?

Once West saw Fluffles stripped of her access fluff and reduced to a skinny bundle of shaved limbs, he laughed. Tears ran down his face and all air fled his lungs until he could only hunch over shaking. Plus, Mrs. Flood made a killer apple pie. But West still couldn't forget crossing Main Street carrying the yowling She-Devil's cage in one hand, with his other elbow offered to steady Mrs. Flood. He scanned the smirking bystanders and approving nods from the elderly citizens of Central and caught the stunned eyes of Mrs. Iris and her photographer.

West flushed a deep red, and his shoulders inched up at the distinct bright flash that followed. The fire burning across his cheeks flared, stretching up the back of his neck and didn't fade for a good hour.

Once he finally slipped away from Mrs. Floods phenomenal baking, West meandered down the streets of Central. Hood up, hands fisted in his pockets, and shoulders hunched in his best Igor impression, West walked from the bright circle of one streetlight to another.

Up in the sky not a star shone. The city lights drowned out all competitors save the solitary moon. One brilliant disc ablaze against the darkness. Defiant to the last and inspiration to heroic saps wallowing or waffling between the mundanities of life and a greater and higher calling. Ah, cruel world.

Still after his eventful day and the events of the past days, West could take a hint.

"I get it, ok?" he said looking up to the moon and whatever higher powers or abstract cosmic forces that could lurk in the darkness blanketing the sky. "Message received."

A streetlight flickered overhead. West paused beneath the vanishing light.

"But don't expect any miracles out of me."

The light winked out.

…

Turns out pictures of West's rare altruism proved to be the perfect incentive for West to drop by the Picture News offices again. First to hack into the newspaper's database to search and erase any incriminating digital evidence of his presence in Central City. A second time to make nice with Mrs. Iris and schmooze with her photographer, coincidentally the photographer who took the mentioned photos and responded to the alias Camera Guy. West managed to erase the pictures from the Camera Guy's cameras and memory cards. A third visit to hunt down all physical copies of the pictures which led West to his current situation sitting across the dinner table from Mrs. Iris and Mr. Allen, again.

The food itself was great. Fettuccini alfredo, two casserole dishes of it complete with garlic sticks, a bowl the size of his head for salad, and oddly enough fifteen bean soup. So maybe West called ahead before he crashed dinner, but Mrs. Iris knew how to cater to a ravenous teenager's stomach.

Mrs. Iris chatted along talking about past assignments, currents events, and camera's guy's assistance and mysteriously disappearing photographs. Mr. Allen would join in and try to draw West into conversation with a smile and calm tone, but West played the starved teenage glutton to the hilt and tucked in. Besides, the food was simply marvelous. Who cared if half the meal was take out and the second half rustled together by both the Allens? He would help with the dishes afterwards like he always did. Carbs, protein, dairy products with a smattering of vitamins and minerals, his favorite.

Unfortunately, Mr. Allen's return home before dinner with the garlic sticks and second fettuccini alfredo entre stalled West's plans to raid Iris' office. Yeah, West may be good enough to sneak around at super speed without one person noticing much, but with those two in close quarters, not so much.

Besides there was something about Mr. Allen. All calm and warmth wrapped around a steel spine and fierce determination and intellect. West could explain away one super speed mishap plausibly to Mrs. Iris (if she let the BS slide), but to the dynamic duo of Mr. and Mrs. Allen? Not a chance, not a snowballs chance in a Great Plains summer drought.

So clean up finished, West slouched behind the coffee table and stared at a checker board. Before him the black and white board. Across from him Mr. Allen set up the chess pieces row by row.

Rook, knight, bishop, queen, king, bishop, knight, rook. West swallowed and pretended his mouthwatering dinner hadn't dropped in his gullet like a punch to his kidneys.

Pawn. Pawn. Pawn.

"I don't play chess," he said.

Blue eyes flickered up from the black pawn to meet West's flat look. The pawn froze, held aloft, and West watched the wheels begin turning behind Mr. Allen's eyes.

West glowered down at the neat line of pawns stretching across the board.

"I've met a few chess masters before."

Crimson eyes fueled by a spark of insanity and seeped in cruelty. Limbs tensing, muscle spasms caused by the electric current coursing through his muscles. Hoarse screams echoed through the halls.

"Didn't like them or the game."

A bone-white mask and its mechanical voice grated out commands. Soulless eyes, empty eyes seeing pawns not people.

West looked back at Mr. Allen. Blue like the summer sky, deep and welcoming. Warmth balanced with authority's discipline but intertwined with twinkling good humor. All breath left West when he spied the spark of hope peering back at him.

West returned his attention to the game board and gathered ranks. Unease chased anxiety around West's stomach and spread through his body, but a strange companion followed after the two, curiosity.

West looked up.

"I play a mean game of checkers though."

…

Many games of checkers followed in various forms and locations. West's favorite checker game so far had to be the Biweekly Board Game Tournament's final face off with Iris. Yes, he finally caved. In the final round pepper jack and cheddar cheese cubes were used for game pieces. Mr. Allen provided blow by blow commentary. While Iris handed West's checker strategies to him on a silver platter, West loved eating all of his captured game pieces. Iris' grimace at the taste of pepper jack proved a small comfort to his humiliating defeat.

West still needed to work on the whole patience part of playing checkers at mundane speed. At least checker games with Mr. Allen—no, he still hadn't gotten over that, yet—moved at a faster pace. Mr. Allen could almost keep up with West. The smidgen of respect West held for Mr. Allen grew accordingly.

The checker games and biweekly tournaments and weekly dinners continued in a nauseating domestic manner, but West continued. He lived and listened. A side effect of dropping in and out of the Allens domestic bliss and shadowing Iris on her beat led to tonight's situation.

It was a dark and stormy night.

More seriously, West stared up at the soaked bricks and gray arches beneath the cover of his umbrella. Lightning flashed, and thunder roared. The scene reminded West of various abandoned houses and haunted mansions from his childhood cartoons. An appropriate comparison since the thought of stepping inside the Central City Police Station sent his stomach churning. The unease involved in registering for classes at the local community college for the upcoming semester and signing up for the local flag football league paled in comparison to the riot decimating his stomach.

But just because something wasn't easy never stopped West.

Inside West played up Rudy to the hilt. Big smiles, awestruck, mouth gaping at the interior, and big blue eyes. Politeness went a long way, so he greeted the officer at the back desk check in, exchanged small pleasantries, and name dropped Mr. and Mrs. Allen within the first ten seconds. A sheepish shrug and quick call up to the lab ended with access into the police department's bowels with a stern reminder to wait for Mr. Allen to meet him.

West fiddled at his visitors pass tearing little strips into the edges. West craned his head about. First time visitors at police stations would be curious about their surroundings, so he took the time to locate the closest exits, all officers in the room and surrounding areas, cameras, and other useful objects.

Such as…West pinched his thigh. Focus on the con. He needed to be the best Rudy Smith he could possibly be. This remained just one small con in a longer series. The biggest job he'd ever pull. Stealing a life for himself.

The next step? Don't get background checked or have to flash his fake id to the officers up front. Also, do not run through Central City Police station—not that they'd find anything. Just be.

Thunder cracked, and West jumped fighting back the shiver tingling down his. A quick look around the room confirmed no changes. Tense muscles relaxing, West shook off his jitters. Instead, he looked past the thrashing trees buffeted by the wind and measured the breadth and width of the room. Everything seemed so much smaller now.

"Hey, Rudy. Good to see you."

West turned and offered a friendly, lukewarm smile at Mr. Allen. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, West shifted weight toward the balls of his feet.

"Yeah, same," he said. "Iris texted. She wanted me to catch a ride with you. Something about not wanting me biking in this weather."

Out of the corner of West's eye a scrolling news feed rolled across the muted television's screen. _Breaking News!_ _Ethics Debate..._ crawled across the screen, but West turned his attention back to Mr. Allen.

"-ake just a minute. Want to come up?"

For once West thanked the heavens for his brain's fast processing capabilities.

"No duh. I'd love too!" Catching himself, West coughed and shuffled his feet. Don't over sell your role. "I mean, sounds like it'd be cool."

Blue eyes twinkled, and Barry slung an arm across West's shoulders and ushered him into the scientist's domain.

West crushed any idle curiosity for the latest news update. Anything that took that long to catch wasn't worth the wait.

Mr. Allen pushed open the doors to the forensics department and headed over to a workstation.

"Just give me ten, no, fifteen minutes to wrap up, and I'll…"

Barry glanced up from his computer screen to Rudy and paused at his milk white complexion. When Rudy began to tilt Barry crossed the room between heartbeats.

"Easy now, breathe. I'm going to stick your head between your knees now, ok?"

Rudy gave the smallest of nods, and Barry eased him down until Rudy's face flooded scarlet. Stepping back, Barry assessed Rudy's relative stability, and the chances of the teen fainting in the next ten seconds, then left to save his work and shut off his computer. After all he could be back in a flash should the worst happen.

On his return trip Barry glanced between Rudy and the point the teen had fixated on before his dizzy spell.

"Right, work can wait. Let's head out and pick up some take out. Iris mentioned craving Thai."

Torrential rain obscured the city lights. Rain drops ran down the far windows, and a far off flash of lightning lit the skyline.

A choked laugh gurgled out of Rudy's throat. Rudy stood and waved at the white tiles, white walls, and the stretch of black lab tables running down the length of the room.

"It's still the same. After all this time, it's still this same."

Rudy's adam's apple dipped and bobbed, and Barry offered Rudy a chair. Rudy sank down into the chair allowing the trembling in his legs to ease. He stared off through the raging storm. His eyes focused on a past time and place. Words tumbled from his lips without thought or wariness.

"I was what, ten, and for some unbelievable reason on a day field trip to Central City with my class. I mean what were Blue Valley kids doing taking a field trip across state lines to Central City?"

Rudy trailed off, and his shoulders slumped. Fidgeting he looked down at his clasped hands. He glanced at the doorway then back to the windows.

The drum of rainfall pattering across the roof filled the room for several minutes.

"There were so many of us, and not enough chaperons. I got lost and ended up wandering around until I found the lab."

For the briefest of microseconds Rudy's eyes flickered from his hands to a shelf of chemicals and flasks stored in cabinets along the back wall just near the first window.

"I was found later by one of the chaperons, this really old lady."

The newest parent volunteer in charge of his group and preoccupied at such convenient times. Incompetent enough to let an entire group of squirming ten year olds run her ragged but relentless enough to track down her missing charge and whip the rest of the group into shape. Not to mention she'd found West just after his rather…shocking experience and personally accompanied the sick boy home hours ahead of the rest of the class.

"I got sick soon after. From exposure to some chemicals that were left out." A rueful grin twisted up at the corners. "Worst day of the worst week of my life."

Barry stirred. "Week?"

Week, month, year.

"My dad dropped off the face of the planet a few days later and some…family problems popped up soon after."

All which cumulated to West accepting enrollment at the prestigious H.I.V.E. Academy, and West shrugged at Mr. Allen's interested look. Pushing off the chair, West dusted off his hands. "But that was years ago. Who cares?"

_I do._

The small truth hidden deep inside often left unacknowledged. His insides squirmed when West caught the solemn look haunting Mr. Allen's face. Later in the evening West caught an echo in Iris' face.

They might.

…

Twenty minutes.

Twenty interminable minutes spent with his forehead soaking up the cold glass. West tracked a slinking water droplet across the window. Down trickled the drop pressed onwards by the wind and the bus's dismal momentum.

The bus jolted over a pot hole rattling and clanging. West hovered over his seat then slammed back into the torn upholstery. Sparing a glance up the deserted aisle, West looked back to the window. Settling down West ticked off water droplet one hundred and eleventy-one and looked for his next subject. With two stops left he could probably squeeze in another hundred or three.

Brakes kicking in, the bus slowed to a stop. Forest green hoody covering his tell-tale hair, West plodded down the aisle and stepped out onto the curb. The bus rumbled off, and West walked the last leg of his journey.

He hated these visits. A coiled knot tangled with dread, and the quiet ache of a small boy ground festered and spread its poison through his blood. The slow slip of time bound West and dragged him kicking and screaming behind the ticks of each second.

In his thoughts a wail resonated through his head and roiled his fractured emotions against the slim barriers of his control. It hurt, so much. His third visit for the month, and the emotional backlash still sucked.

Three blocks north and West crossed onto the long, paved drive leading up to the hospital. After a while all the long term care facilities blended together. The outside trappings, amenities, ornamentation and staff changed, but the core remained the same. Some found a home, others a death sentence, but the West family found just another prison.

West nodded at the vaguely familiar faces, gifted strained smiles to the nurses, and left warning glares at any male staff members he met. He said all the right things, and went through all the motions. At the end of an obscenely bright hallway lay the last room he wanted to enter.

For a moment his hand hovered over the door knob. West leaned his forehead against the chilled wood and breathed. Positives, positives, she still recognized him. A beautiful spark lit her eyes whenever he entered the room and drew up a chair. The depression had passed, like her doctors promised. West skittered away from that line of thought. If the depression had passed, then only the apathy remained. But he preferred dull, lifeless eyes that knew him, and crackled lips that curved upwards and mouthed out his name to the alternative.

Curling his fingers around the door knob, West pushed down and slid the door open just far enough to slip inside. What to talk about today? She always appreciated his talks even if she never said so or participated in the conversations. Or at least, she used to. She still might.

West wanted to mention the Allens today. Not by their names, of course, but as that odd couple that had taken a liking to him. How bizarre that felt. His tentative plans for the future and other rubbish he felt obligated to tell her. Even if she couldn't care anymore or hear about it for much longer. She was his mother after all.

The part of West's visits that he hated the most, outside of the obvious, was how long they took. This fell in the category of fugitive speedster remaining incognito which meant taking buses to the facilities, walking, and generally forcing him to move at a "regular" speed. Time dilated dragging on and on, but with years of visits under his belt, West had long settled into the habit of slowing his responses and interaction with the world for these visits. Habit took over, and while painfully dull, West endured.

Like the infamous purloined letter, West hid best in plain sight. But this would not save him.

West would open the door and look toward his mother's favorite window overlooking the grounds. The door would catch in a hand roughly the size of a watermelon, and West would catch sight of a solitary green eye. Dark shadows pooled in the dimly lit room's corners would gather and solidify. The sheer absence of his mother's presence would petrify West more than all his years at the H.I.V.E. Academy rolled together.

"Hey, Kid. Let's talk."

* * *

Prompt: Backlash


	85. Newsworthy

**A/N 6-29-13**: Welcome readers new and old! Well, I'll have you guys know it didn't take me three months to update this time. It took me _four_. As always thank you for you support, kind words, and even threats. No, I'm not planning any new writing projects at the moment; real life is real and obligatory. I hope you enjoy the read!

* * *

Chapter 85: Newsworthy

A voice murmurs through her dreams. A whisper kindles an old half awareness. She drifts to the border between sleep and awake, for a name, her name, permeates the darkness. Even as she wakes a piece anchors to dreams and sleep. She will forget all by morning. If the dimmest fragments of memory linger, they will be dismissed for a dream.

Half-roused and brimming with yawns, Jinx shifts pulling the covers tighter over her shoulder and burrows deeper into her warm nest. One arm leaves the bundle and waves about in the air. Searching fingers curl around their prize, a small hand mirror. Jinx blinks at the glass surface and the face within.

"West?"

"Jinx."

Bleary eyes crack open and squint at glowing numbers hovering over her nightstand. "It's three in the morning. What's going on?"

Tiredness aches in the hollow spaces in Jinx's head, scratches at the back of her eyes, and weighs down her eyelids. The focus to keep her eyes from drifting shut causes Jinx to miss certain details. She might notice how West's freckles stand out like brown stamps against his skin, the dark shadows smudged beneath his eyes, or the lingering haunted look in his stare. However, she does notice the messy hair and the slight hitch and catch in his speech.

"I'm sorry, Jinx."

His words tug her out of her doze. Brows puckering, Jinx scowls at him. Half asleep with half her wits about her, yet she manages to respond.

"For what, the wake-up call?"

"That too. But I won't be able to talk for a few, for a while. Busy. Big project came up."

"Did your classes start already? Told you. Shouldn't major in physics. 's complicated."

A small smile cracks West's dour image, and a mirror image spreads across hers. Jinx buries her head back into her pillow, and lets the half-crooked smile grow.

"Sort of, the project needs a lot of…research. I'll survive. Somehow. I didn't mean to wake you."

" 's cool." She yawns and willfully admits defeat in the struggle to keep her drooping eyes open. "Talk to ya later, West."

"Heh, yeah."

Thousands of miles away West watches Jinx's eyelashes flutter shut and her head sag into her pillow. The image in the mirror tilts and blurs. Before the image disappears, his smile twists and West tears his eyes away.

"Goodbye Jinx."

He tilts his palm and watches the mirror slip though his fingers and shatter on the ground.

…

Whenever Jinx thought of the phrase _Titans in Tokyo_ she immediately thought, _Titans? Tokyo? Sweet, vacation! Can I come?_

But, alas, some things were not meant to be. Jinx traveling to Tokyo included. Cyborg still needed to finish designing a sixth compartment for the T-sub, so that halted any Jinx in Japan adventures. Other ill-fated dreams included Robin letting the Titans visit a foreign country for fun. Hah, as if. Nope, shortpants remained the same determined workaholic. No fun until the heroics are done. And the heroics never ended.

But Jinx blamed Robin's recent uptightness on recent events. Events which led to a four am wake-up call. Robin needed Jinx to hold down the fort in Jump, and help repair the Tower while the Titans tracked a lead to Tokyo

Jinx gave Robin a pass for the attitude and wake-up call. Some idiot had attacked the Tower, Robin's home, and struck at his team, not to mention whatever damage the city sustained during the initial encounter. The only other button the fools could have pushed would have been targeting individual team members.

For once Jinx didn't mind missing out on a Titan field trip. Hexes and snark mixed with a grim Robin led to pyrotechnics. The Titans would be much better for Robin. Jinx would just heavily suggest for Starfire to turn up the sunshine and cheer around Robin. That usually dragged him out of his funks.

But first hearing the news at four a.m. that the Titans had left Jinx with an empty, battle damaged tower and a lengthy to do and to watch list, and with the Titans an hour from Tokyo at the start of the call? Not fun. Robin had promised help. Back-up, he called it, to keep her from terrorizing the city.

The Titans East loaned out Mas and Menos, the promised help, and for the first long day Jinx and the twins patched over the immediate damage and kept the ceiling of the main room from collapsing. They finished the patch jobs shortly after the sun sank beneath the horizon, and the last of twilight faded into night.

At night the twins promised to return bright and early the next morning and left for Steel City. Jinx spent a quiet evening logging the repairs and sifting through the instructions left behind.

…

Jinx woke with the echo of a scream ringing in her ears. Her chest heaved, and her lungs sucked in bellows of air. Damp sheets stuck to her skin, and goosebumps prickled on her shoulders.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Jinx squinted at her alarm clock and pouted at the time. 6:30 am, too early, but Mas and Menos would show up at 7 am sharp. Chirpy, cheery brats, yet oddly endearing in their own way.

With a moan, a groan, and a put upon sigh, Jinx threw off her clammy sheets and slid out of bed. The Tornado Twins were coming. Showered, dressed, and half-way out the door Jinx paused. A nagging itch danced across her palms. Sketchbook tucked under her elbow, Jinx padded along the corridors to the kitchen. Day two without the Titans. She had a million and one things to do today, but somehow she knew half would be blown off in lieu of drawing.

Before Saico-Tek diverted Robin and his Merry Titans, Robin had been obsessing over finding patterns in various crimes across the nation that might impact Jump City. In fact, if Saico-Tek hadn't blatantly rampaged through downtown, damaged the Tower, and angered the Titans, Robin and Co. would still be in Jump attempt to divine order out of chaos.

But the Titans had to leave, so along with repairs, Robin tasked Jinx to monitor the results of an algorithm tracking a string of break-ins and robberies. The common tie? Tech, high-tech equipment, expensive software, and all stolen from distinguished heads in the technology world. Jinx's eyes skimmed Robin's notes and hypotheses. In fact, if the pattern continued, then Star Labs or even Wayne Enterprises had made the list of potential targets.

Not that she had to do anything about this. Jinx was babysitting. For a few days the Titans needed her to watch the Tower, and hex whatever hapless fool tried to take advantage of the Titans absence, again.

She really should just magic herself a way to Japan.

Jinx narrowed her eyes. Patterns in chaos, the stores and companies Robin tagged ranged through California. Wayne Enterprises had a local branch in Jump, and Star Labs was close only a city or so away.

Software, circuitry, miscellaneous components, and some fancy-smancy capacitor. She really needed Cyborg working on this.

"Buenos días, Jinx!"

"Ah…" Spanish, Jinx fumbled for the shreds of her vocabulary, knowing what followed.

"¿Cómo estás?"

"Bien. Gracías. Y tú, err tuus, um…ustedes?"

Mas and Menos broke into huge smiles. Yes, Jinx slaughtered their precious español, but the two seemed to appreciate the effort. Then again they were used to gringos after joining Titans East. But they understood her and found ways to be understood.

"Ok, I'm working on case files. The new window is coming today, so I need you two to cover all the furniture with sheets. Sí?"

"Sí!"

A gust of wind replaced the grinning pair and knocked Jinx back into her chair. Blowing her bangs out of her eyes, Jinx chuckled. Speedsters. She turned back to the files and frowned. The size, range of the robberies, and the shape and bulk of some missing equipment suggested a group, something organized. The first robberies started ten days ago and continued over the span of the last week, so whoever they were, they were building something.

But the who's and what's of the case paled in comparison to the How. Starting a week ago the robberies changed. Frown all accounts and available evidence a ghost seemed to be making off with the stolen items.

No tampering with security, no one entered or left any of the scenes of the crime, nothing. All video evidence sowed the purloined item resting in its rightful spot and gone the next moment.

Another gust buffeted Jinx's face. Hopping up and down the twins chattered and pointed at the window. At the city docks a crane and its platform inched across the bay. Jinx saved the files and spent the next two hours supervising the installation of the new window panel and monitoring the workers activities. Mas and Menos zipped about moving electronics, covering furniture, and tracking any awestruck stragglers. Lunch saw the Tower cleared of workers and the new window panel installed.

With a newly installed, shiny window and a Tower filled only with Titans, Jinx clicked through the security settings and glanced between that and the open window with Cyborg's instructions on how to integrate the window into the existing security parameters. Normally, Cyborg would be babbling away talking live from Japan, but any attempts to raise the Titans had failed to go through. But Jinx had checked the international news earlier and found an interesting headline: Giant Lizard Attacks Down Town Tokyo: the Tokyo Troopers Triumph Once Again! The article referenced the minor assistance of the Teen Titans. The rest gushed about Commander Daizo, and the city's gratitude to him for founding the Tokyo Troopers, protecting the populace and so on and so forth.

Typical hero worship.

Jinx closed the browser and arched her back into a neck cracking stretch. The ache pounding beneath her forehead accompanied a restless energy insisting she had spent far too much time staring at a computer screen. Well, patrol didn't start for a few more hours, so it wasn't like she had anywhere to be.

Sketchbook in hand Jinx retreated to her room. Her fingers itched.

Unicorn

Unicorn

A unicorn family. Unicorn crime fighters lurking in the night and striking terror into criminals. Horned pegasi, or would those be flying unicorns?

A study of fabric textures and folds. A watercolor which failed at replicating a particular pair of dark blue eyes. A study of light on freckles. More freckles, more skin, a study in male adolescent facial expressions…

Jinx threw her sketchbook across the room and listened to the page crumpling thump. She had not turned into a sap. She certainly wasn't pining. Curling around her pillow, Jinx sunk into a huddled slouch and tucked her face into her knees.

So she might miss West a tiny bit, but how dare her mind betray her with doodles of, of romance! Hugs, holding hands, going on dates, sparring together, ruffling his hair, or just playing with it really. How soft would it be under her fingertips? She really wanted to drool over his abs and see if they were as defined in real life as his suit suggested. Maybe an afternoon of cloud watching in the park? They could go swimming! And she could stare all day.

Ears burning, Jinx smacked sweaty hands against her inflamed cheeks and groaned. So she missed West a lot. Heck, she couldn't find her hand mirror lately. Even if she wanted to talk to West, she couldn't and while talking on through the mirrors was awesome, she wanted more.

Dates, a part of her mind chimed in. Long walks spent talking and holding hands. Dressing up and eating out together. Hanging out and discovering more about what West cares about and finally weaseling a first name out of him. Oh, and definitely make him to tell her how pretty she was.

Jinx banged her forehead into her knees. Not helping, really not helping. Besides, West was busy. Once he quit hiding from his shadow and settled into his new life, they could figure something out. Long distance dating shouldn't mean much to the fastest guy alive, and Jinx didn't have any strong reasons rooting her in Jump City. She could branch out and find her own city to watch over.

Jinx giggled and buried her face into her pillow. For a moment she basked savoring the bubbly happiness glimmering though her emotions.

A pulsing light filled the room. Jinx tumbled over herself rolling off her bed and stumbling across the room. The crystal ball waited; light ebbed and faded on its surface. Jinx plucked it out of its cradle and peered into the misty depths.

"Hey Zee. What's up?" Top hat and work clothes. "You seem grim."

"I have bad news."

Jinx sat on the bed. Zee never just had bad news. Bad news usually entailed a book of dark magic breaking its bonds and releasing a demon, so she needed to visit the Batcave for a few days. Bad news meant Zachary broke into the kitchen after hours and tried a new cooking spell, so don't bug Maria and stay put until the architecture spells repair the structural damage and the foundation. Bad news meant she couldn't scry anymore.

A whisper in her head and the echo of a scream.

"Jinx?"

"What's the damage?"

A tight smile appeared on Zatanna's face, but her voice remained level, professional.

"The Brotherhood of Evil has escaped custody."

Well then.

"But weren't they—?"

"Following extradition it was decided to be inhumane to leave captured criminals in cryogenic stasis. Following relocation the Brotherhood of Evil and their compatriots were defrosted."

Right, because leaving them on ice forever was too easy.

"Mallah, Madame Rouge, and General Immortus have escape custody. Several other participants in the Brotherhood's previous operation have disappeared as well."

For a moment Jinx cradled the crystal ball palm. Her eyebrow twitched.

"Of all the incompetent—!"

Zatanna allowed Jinx a moment to rage. To decry the lack of foresight involved; of course this would happen. Had no one anticipated this? Had they so quickly forgotten their prisoners' power and far reaching influence? Of course not, the ingrates practically let them waltz free out of high security prison. Never mind how they'd been cut off, isolated, and hunted unable to tell friend from foe.

Finally, words escaped Jinx, and she fell sputtering back onto her bed and fumed.

"The twins won't like this. Menos still has nightmares of being _frozen alive_."

Jinx had nightmares too. Nightmares of standing alone in a barren world with the knowledge, it was all her fault. Nightmares of dark dragons and falling into an abyss of endless screams.

"Robin and the Titans are in Japan. I guess heroes never get a vacation after all.

"Well, thanks for the update Zee, but I have to initiate lock-down, tell Titans East and the Honoraries to be on their toes, and maybe see if Cyborg can triple our firewall."

"Nicole, I'm not done."

Jinx winced. "Zee, I'm in _costume_. Is this connection even secure?"

Zatanna had the cheek to wink at her.

"The Justice League is working alongside Interpol to recapture the escape criminals. Many of our reserve members have volunteered, and the Doom Patrol has pledged cooperation with the League. Batman is coordinating the main search."

"Oh."

"Yep."

"Wow."

"Yep."

"Thank you?"

A spark lit in Zatanna's eye. She tipped her hat back and a wide tooth-filled grin slid across her face.

"It's been a busy week."

"It's been a _week_?"

The smile disappeared.

"One week? They've been—for a _week_—and you're only telling me, us, the Titans, you know, their targets, _now_?"

"Watchtower is downloading a list of escaped criminals and potential problems on to your servers as we speak."

"What?!"  
"The actions of the Brotherhood of evil against the teen Titans are unacceptable. The League," Zatanna said, "will not stand for another reoccurrence."

Jinx sucked in a breath and squashed her temper. Calm, control, she had self-discipline, dangit.

"The Teen Titans are perfectly capable of looking out for ourselves. We've gone global, faced the Brotherhood before, and we can face them again."

"But you shouldn't have too. Jinx, you and your generation are our future," Zatanna said. "One day the world will look to the Titans for their hope and protection. And the Brotherhood attempted to annihilate you. The League won't stand for an encore performance. I'm personally tracking down the Amazing Mumbo."

The oddest tingling flush surged through Jinx's spine leaving prickling aftershocks behind.

"Oh really?" she said. "The Amazing Mumbo? Blue all over, cursed wand, with the enchanted hat?"

"The very same."

An odd fluttering accompanied the tingling swell, and Jinx finally placed the sensation, giddiness. Two identical smiles, wide, tooth-filled and utterly vicious, gleamed.

"Well, now," Jinx said. "Isn't that something. When did this start?"

"The first alerts were kept quiet after the first escapes. After Madame Rouge escaped custody a week ago, Interpol and the League were officially contacted. The Brain is still in custody and heavily guarded, but Mallah and General Immortus disappeared within days after Rouge. The League is investigating the prison breaks as well as tracking other prominent members of your rogues."

Jinx snorted. "Typical, the League focuses on the A-listers like, and the rest of the escapees will just slip off the radar."

Jinx slumped a stubborn exhaustion clung to her back. Robin would need to be told, and he was still chasing leads in the land of the rising sun.

"So a partial criminal escape from high security prisons. Where did they stick them, Arkham? Expect a subsequent rise in criminal activity from minor, reoccurring pests, and the Leagues has a grudge and are tracking down the worst of the escapees. Also, despite the Titans impressive work locking up the whole bunch, the League and most of the world still consider us kids; therefore, as children, we don't need to know about relevant prison breaks. That sum it up?"

Zatanna tipped her head. "That's about right."

Zatanna's infuriating I'm amused with my former student smile appeared. Ugh, patronizing grown-ups.

"Thanks for the heads up Zee. Been helpful." She dropped the sarcasm. "I'll stay smart, 'kay?"

Zatanna nodded, and her image disappeared from the crystal ball. Jinx sighed and slumped back on her bed. The breaking news on the hero scene would occur with Jinx holding down the fort in JC. The mountains of work loomed ahead of her. Reading the list downloaded straight to the Tower's servers—didn't they have firewalls? Telling, the Titans, Titans East, and all the shiny, new Honoraries without causing a public panic. Cross reference the escaped criminal list with current crime rates and patterns from the last week correlations.

She hoped Control Freak was still wallowing in solitary. That dork had nearly caused her three dramatic villainous breakdowns by sheer annoyingness. Like she didn't have enough to worry about with the new window, the cheerful twins, and that ghost running around.

Jinx blinked. Somewhere a light bulb lit, but Jinx couldn't have cared less. Revelation had occurred.

"Gizmo."

* * *

Prompt: Free


End file.
